To enter the world of Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda (the couture line the Italian duo established eight years ago) is to enter a world of unfeasible glamour: one of spectacular locations, supermodels and seriously jet-set guests. All of that pales in comparison to the superlatively sumptuous clothes, however. Because although you’re more likely to spy today’s royals in denim and trainers, for Dolce & Gabbana’s anointed Alta Moda Queens, crowns, ballgowns and robes reign supreme.
Now Domenico Dolce is celebrating the Alta Moda world with a spectacular new photography tome that pays homage to the label’s ultra-glamorous clients (he shot the portraits himself). Queens: Alta Moda di Dolce & Gabbana is a lavish 216-page monograph featuring Domenico’s clients and friends from across the globe, all of them resplendent in pieces from the Alta Moda and Alta Gioielleria (fine jewellery) collections, their portraits juxtaposed with paintings of historical empresses, princesses and noblewomen by great masters.
The book launched last night with a party and exhibition at Dolce & Gabbana’s Old Bond Street store. ‘We love women,’ Domenico told Grazia of his simple starting point for the book, which has been a labour of love for the past two years. ‘The woman is icon!’ And the secret to being a Dolce queen? ‘Confidence!’
A handful of clients who star in the book were out to celebrate the launch. Like Chinese-American Grace Pen, who dazzled in a crystal embellished tuxedo. What does she love about Dolce & Gabbana? ‘What is there not to love?’ she smiled, calling out the detail that goes into ‘every stitch, every sparkle’ and the fact that their designs ‘tuck everything in where it needs to be tucked in!’. Or Amani Sboul Dagher, who lives between Jordan and London, and loves that Dolce & Gabbana ‘has this Italian elegance and allure that you cannot deny’. Iman Allana, a millennial entrepreneur (she has a line of Bollywood-inspired beauty) who has loved the brand since she got her first pair of D&G jeans, aged 11 added: ‘Dolce & Gabbana is a company that feels like family. They run it like a family, and they take care of their customers like family’.
Indeed that sprawling, extended family spirit is something both the clients and the designers seem to thrive off. No wonder Domenico quipped that as an Italian, ‘the mama’ will always be the ultimate queen.