By Rachel Yu
For this season’s Milan Fashion Week, esteemed Dolce & Gabbana designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana decided to take it up a notch and transform lingerie into runway couture—an act we thought only Victoria’s Secret could perform. This season’s Dolce & Gabbana show was titled “Women” as a dedication of their collection towards women of all colors, shapes, and sizes. The show featured a lot of sheer yet delicate lingerie pieces within their collection in order to express their intent of emphasizing femininity throughout their show.
Many of haute couture’s most renowned models appeared in this show, like Ashley Graham and Irina Shayk, with Vittoria Ceretti opening and Naomi Campbell closing the show. Over the course of the show, the color scheme of the pieces begins to change. Opening with primarily black mesh lingerie pieces, the colors shifted towards white lace pieces, as well as a few fur looks, by the end. By exhibiting primarily black and white pieces, I appreciate how the color transformation was simple and slick, which is something that Dolce & Gabbana has succeeded in during their Fall-Winter 2023 season.
This collection displays several black and white mesh lingerie dresses, with models wearing sheer tights and garters. I truly admire the sexy yet sleek pieces that were featured in this show, as they evoked an aura of sensuality and seduction for the collection. Even the pieces that strayed away from the lingerie look, like the fur and cheetah print coats, still successfully aligned with the essential feminine and sensual theme of the show.
My favorite look of this show is Look 36, which is a floral lacy black dress with silver bustier-like straps and black thigh-high tights with garters, topped with a mesh bow-shaped choker. This piece aligns with the overall lingerie theme of the collection but still stands out with the slim fit of the dress, as well as the silver linings.
I will admit that there were certainly a lot of pieces that you would not normally expect Dolce & Gabbana to release, especially with the lack of eye-catching colors and patterns within this specific show. Still, they were able to grab my attention with their ability to turn business-casual patterns into sheer lingerie by adding blouses, collar-neck dresses, and blazers. I also value their incorporation of different fabrics and textures in their pieces, as some pieces were lacy and delicate, while others were thick and silky.
Head designers also implemented pieces that were simply lingerie in its original state. This element was most evident in Vittoria Ceretti’s second look of the show, as she wears a silky black lace-up corset bodysuit, along with sheer thigh-high tights and plain black heels. Thus, with this successful execution, Dolce & Gabbana highlighted how lingerie pieces that are normally intended as underwear can simultaneously serve as exemplary yet opulent fashion statements.
Rachel Yu is a student writer for Boston University Fashion and Retail Association. She is a freshman studying Journalism in the School of Communications. This is her first article for BU F&R!
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