Dolce & Gabbana's Garden Fashion Feat In Florence

The Dolce and Gabbana Alta Moda collection was executed by artisans in their Bottega home--a newly assembled corps of 50 employees, all aged under 30 and dedicated to various forms of embroidery, making this the first all in-house fabricated Alta Moda collection from Dolce and Gabbana.

The result of their work was shown in the hillside garden of the Villa Bardini, just outside the city, and set to a dreamy Nino Rota-composed soundtrack. 

Gold-leaf dusted prosecco might have contributed, but what unfolded on the garden’s steps felt pretty dreamy: a long and languid procession of fascinator-wearing models in a catalog of expansively explored and extravagantly embroidered 1950s and early ’60s silhouettes. 

There were Sofia Loren-worth wiggle dresses in golden raffia to full-skirted Liz Taylor-as-Cleopatra-esque gowns in 3D floral-embroidered silk via split-skirt black velvet body huggers that Anita Ekberg would have swum wonderfully in. 

These were on-purpose references to classic cinematic costumes from the golden age of Cinecittà, a tandem-to-fashion Italian cultural flourishing that was embraced by the wider world. The models first descended Bardini’s steep stone garden staircase, then climbed up it again—a feat made less fearsome by universally worn flats—before slowly arranging themselves in a group mise-en-scene in front of Monica Belluci, Kitty Spencer and the rightly-rapt Mayor of Florence. 

As the last model took her position, the designers stepped out from the villa to mingle with the clients and sip more gold-seasoned proseccos as fireworks arced up from the banks of the Arno below.