Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdoltʃe e ɡɡabˈbaːna]), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear.
Dolce&Gabbana founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana met each other in 1982 while working for Giorgio Corregiari, an Italian fashion brand. Domenico Dolce was born on 13 August 1958, in Polizzi Generosa, while Stefano Gabbana was born on 14 November 1962, in Milan. Dolce began designing and making his clothes at the age of six. In 1983, the two established their own design consulting studio, which they named "Dolce & Gabbana". Their first women's collection debuted in 1985 at the New Talents section of Milan Fashion Week, and the following year, they opened their first store in Milan. The first meeting between the two happened over the phone when Dolce called the fashion company where Gabbana was working, looking for a job. After being hired by the company, Gabbana took Dolce under his wing and taught him the workings of a fashion company and how to sketch new designs. Shortly after Dolce's hiring, Gabbana was drafted for 18 months of civil service at an institution for the mentally ill, but after his return, the two created a design consulting business.
The company's 1986 Spring and Summer (SS) collection, titled Geometrissimo was presented alongside other fashion labels. Dolce & Gabbana did not have enough money to hire models or provide them with accessories, so they sought help from their friends. Their friends served as models and wore their personal items to accessorize the clothing. A bed sheet from Dolce's home was used as their stage curtain.
In March 1986, Dolce & Gabbana released their first self-produced collection, Donne Vere/Real Women, for the Fall and Winter (FW) 1986/87 season. The name of the collection was influenced by the local women who served as models on the runway. However, sales were initially disappointing, and Gabbana canceled the fabric order for their second collection. Dolce's family later offered to help with costs during a visit to Sicily over Christmas. Incidentally, the fabric company did not receive the cancellation notice in time, and the fabric was ready for them when they returned to Milan. In September 1986, Dolce&Gabbana presented the SS 1987 Women's fashion show entitled Trasformismo.Despite working together, they always invoiced separately until an accountant advised them to invoice jointly to simplify things and make the business more cost-effective. The two began invoicing clients under the name Dolce and Gabbana, which became the name of their developing design business. They produced their next collection in 1986 and opened their first store the same year.
The fashion house continued to gain recognition, and in 1987, Dolce & Gabbana presented the Women's SS 1988 fashion show, entitled Il Gattopardo/The Leopard line. The following year, they began designing underwear and swimwear, and by 1990, the company was exporting their products to Japan and the United States. In the same year, they launched their first perfume, Dolce&Gabbana Pour Homme and Dolce&Gabbana Pour Femme, produced and distributed by Euroitalia.
In 1990 the company opened its first women's boutique in Via Sant'Andrea, Milan. Michael Gross wrote of their third collection in a 1992 interview, "They were a secret known only to a handful of Italian fashion editors. Their few models changed behind a rickety screen. They called their collection of T-shirt-cotton and elastic-silk pieces, Transformation." The clothing in this collection came with instructions on the seven different ways a piece could be worn in an outfit, as the wearer could use Velcro and snaps to alter the clothing's form.
Dolce & Gabbana's fourth collection, influenced by Dolce's Sicilian roots, made an impact on the Italian fashion market. In this collection, Dolce drew on his Sicilian roots. The collection's advertising campaign was shot in Sicily by photographer Ferdinando Scianna and featured Dutch model Marpessa Hennink in black and white pictures reminiscent of Italian cinema from the 1940s. The brand's use of Italian cinema as a theme continued in their fifth collection, which drew upon the work of filmmaker Luchino Visconti and his film The Leopard.
One of the dresses from their fourth collection, called The Sicilian Dress, became iconic for the brand and was named one of the 100 most important dresses ever designed by author Hal Rubenstein. The dress is considered to be the epitome of Dolce & Gabbana's style, with a slip-like silhouette that emphasizes the figure and flares out at the knees to create a swaying motion when walking.
Hal Rubenstein described the piece in 2012, writing: "The Sicilian Dress is the essence of Dolce & Gabbana, the sartorial cornerstone of the brand. The dress takes inspiration from a slip, but it is a slip that adorned Anna Magnani, and it is a silhouette that graced Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, and so on. The straps fit tightly to the body just like those of a bra; the neckline runs straight but is pinned at least twice, once on each side, to caress the two breasts and in the middle to meet an uplifting fold that provides slight support. The slip does not simply fall down but rises at the waist to hold the figure firmly but not too tightly, and then flares out to emphasize the hips, falling slightly tapered at the knees, ensuring the swaying of the hips while walking."
In 1987, Dolce & Gabbana launched their first knitwear collection line, and in 1989, they started an underwear and beachwear collection. In the same year, they launched their first women's fashion show in Tokyo and opened their first store in Japan in partnership with Kashiyama Co.
In April 1990, they held their first fashion show in New York, started exporting their products to the United States, and founded their own showroom. That same year, Dolce&Gabbana presented the first Men's FW 1990/1991 collection. The collection features linear-cut garments, characterized by dark and solid shades, such as black, gray and burgundy. The common thread of the collection is the high-waisted trousers, combined with shirts, wool sweaters and blazers. In 1990 as well, the brand moved the design house into its first official offices. The company also began to design gowns and other more expensive pieces in addition to their original clothing.
Their 1990 Spring/Summer women's collection, featured in the Gli Anni '60 women's fashion show, referenced the mythological painting of Raphael, and the duo began to build a reputation for crystal-encrusted clothing. The 1991 Fall/Winter women's collection was also adorned by trinkets, including filigree medals and embellished corsets. The 1992 Fall/Winter women's collection was then inspired by the silver screen of the 1950s, though the collection still included crystal embellished body suits.
In 1991, their men's collection won the Woolmark Award for the most innovative men's collection of the year. Madonna wore a corset made of gemstones and an accompanying jacket from Dolce & Gabbana at the 1991 New York City premiere of Truth or Dare: In Bed with Madonna, which is considered their first foray into international recognition. The duo partnered with Madonna in 1993 to design over 1500 costumes for the artist's Girlie Show international tour in support of her 1992 album Erotica. In 1994, the house's trademark double-breasted jacket was named "La Turlington" after model Christy Turlington. That same year the company launched the D&G brand, a line produced and distributed by Ittierre, aimed at younger individuals.
In 1993, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme was awarded the Perfume Academy's 1993 award for best feminine fragrance of the year; Dolce & Gabbana pour Homme, was the recipient of the best masculine fragrance of the year award from the same academy in 1995.
They won an "Oscar des Parfums" for best male perfume in 1996 from the French Parfum Academy, the first time ever that the title has been awarded to an Italian brand. Towards the end of the 1990s their sales were around $500 million and in 2003 alone, their revenue reached $633.2 million.
In 1990, they launched their first men's collection. That year, they also moved the design house into its first official offices and began to design gowns and other more expensive pieces in addition to their original clothing. Their 1990 Spring/Summer women's collection referenced the mythological painting of Raphael, and the duo began to build a reputation for crystal-encrusted clothing. The 1991 Fall/Winter women's collection was also adorned by trinkets, including filigree medals and embellished corsets. The 1992 Fall/Winter women's collection was then inspired by the silver screen of the 1950s, though the collection still included crystal embellished body suits.
In 1993, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme was awarded the Perfume Academy's 1993 award for best feminine fragrance of the year; Dolce & Gabbana pour Homme, was the recipient of the best masculine fragrance of the year award from the same academy in 1995.
In 1995, the brand presented the SS 1996 Women's fashion show, Le Eolie, featuring garments with leopard and zebra prints. That same year Dolce & Gabbana's collections caused a controversy with the British and Italian press, when they selected the American gangster motif as inspiration for their work. The brand transposed this Fall/Winter 1995 inspiration onto women's wear, which critics stated brought an erotic edge to the clothing. The duo had used the motif before in 1992 when photographer Steven Meisel shot an ad campaign for the house in which the models posed in "gangster chic". This included wide-lapelled 1930s style coats and black leather caps.
In 1996 the D&G runway show was streamed on the Internet instead of being held on a physical runway, in an experimental move towards new media. That year Dolce & Gabbana also designed the costumes for the film Romeo + Juliet.
Dolce&Gabbana worked with various musical artists in the 2000s, designing costumes for Madonna's Drowned World Tour in 2001, Missy Elliott, Beyoncé, and Mary J. Blige's international tours and Whitney Houston's My Love Is Your Love tour. Additionally, they designed costumes for Kylie Minogue's Showgirl Homecoming tour and featured Madonna in their 2010 advertising campaigns.
During this time, Dolce & Gabbana drew inspiration from the sport of football, and their designs continued to influence trends in both fashion and music. They partnered with AC Milan to produce the team's official off-field suits from 2004 to 2014. In 2002, their early corset designs were revived by many European designers as a trend. The brand also began holding private viewings of their new collections for buyers to pre-empt the copying of their designs by fast fashion companies.
In 2006, the company started a new journey in accessories and leather goods for men and women. In the same year, the brand launched a controversial ad campaign featuring two men kissing, which received criticism from some conservatives. However, the Advertising Standards Authority of Italy did not find the ad unacceptable for broadcast solely based on the depiction of two men kissing.
In February 2009, the Dolce&Gabbana makeup line was launched. Dolce & Gabbana created their first makeup in collaboration with make-up artist Pat McGrath. Scarlett Johansson appeared as the face of the advertising campaign for this new venture.
In 2011, Dolce&Gabbana merged with D&G, with the aim of strengthening the main line. The final independent D&G collection was the Spring/Summer 2012 collection shown in September 2011. The New Yorker publication in 2005 stated that, "Dolce and Gabbana are becoming to the two-thousands what Prada was to the nineteen-nineties and Armani was to the nineteen-eighties—designers whose sensibility defines the decade."
In terms of personal awards, FHM named Dolce & Gabbana as the designers of the year in 1996 and 1997. In 2003, GQ Magazine awarded Dolce & Gabbana the title of "Men of the Year". The following year, British Elle readers voted Dolce & Gabbana as the best international designers at the 2004 Elle Style Awards.
On 19 June 2010, Dolce&Gabbana celebrated the 20th anniversary of their brand at the Piazza della Scala and Palazzo Marino in Milan. The following day, a public exhibition was held which included a room with several dozen televisions piled haphazardly upon each other, each displaying a different collection from the design house's twenty-year history.
In 2019, Dolce & Gabbana extended its size range up to UK 22, making them one of the first luxury fashion houses to move towards body positivity and inclusivity for women. While most luxury fashion houses cater to women of sizes up to UK 16, Dolce & Gabbana took the initiative to extend their size range for greater inclusivity.
In September 2021, Dolce&Gabbana collaborated with UNXD to issue Collezione Genesi NFT, its first non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The collection consisted of nine pieces, including five physical and four digital creations, such as "Glass Suit" and "Impossible Tiara", and was sold for 1,885.719 Ether (equivalent to nearly $5.7 million). This collaboration with UNXD was a significant move towards the incorporation of blockchain technology into the fashion industry, and was widely reported by publications such as Vogue and The New York Times as being one of the first NFT collections created by a major fashion house.
Dolce&Gabbana collaborated with the British-American designer Harris Reed to present Somali model Iman Abdulmajid at the 2021 Met Gala fashion event in New York City. Harris Reed stated that fashion has a responsibility to spark conversation around social injustices. Iman, who faced institutional racism as a model, and founded a cosmetics line for women of color in 1994, was seen as an ideal collaborator to create a statement on the red carpet.
In 2022, Dolce&Gabbana teamed up with American celebrity Kim Kardashian to produce the Ciao Kim collection. The collection predominantly showcased black, white, and silver clothing with embellishments such as lace, crystals, and leopard prints. Later, in February 2023, Kim Kardashian was introduced as the face of D&G's Spring/Summer 2023 collection in campaign photos shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
Dolce&Gabbana has a history of co-branding with various Italian companies such as Baci Perugina, Fiasconaro, Murano glass company, Barovier & Toso, Mian, I Dogi, Venini, Barbini, Salviati, and Tessiture Bevilacqua, among others. These collaborations have been an integral part of the brand's marketing strategy for many years.
In 2023, Dolce&Gabbana won the Craft and Artisanship Award at the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards.
Dolce & Gabbana operated two distinct lines, D&G and Dolce&Gabbana, until 2011, when the lines merged under the label Dolce & Gabbana.
Dolce&Gabbana (spelled without spaces, unlike the name of the company) is a luxury fashion brand that draws inspiration from high-end designs and specializes in timeless and formal products that respond to both long-term trends and seasonal changes. In 2010, the brand announced a collaboration with American singer Madonna to create a collection of sunglasses named MDG, which was released in May of that year. In addition to fashion items, Dolce&Gabbana offers fragrances for both men and women, with one example being 'The One' perfume.
D&G was a fashion diffusion line of Dolce&Gabbana, characterized by a youthful and expressive design philosophy. Unlike Dolce&Gabbana, which primarily focused on clothing, D&G also offered watches produced by Naloni and Binda Group. However, in 2011, Dolce&Gabbana made a strategic decision to discontinue the D&G line to prioritize the growth of their other collections. This was done to concentrate "more strength and energy" towards their main line.
Dolce&Gabbana has diversified its offerings over the years with a range of products. In 1992, they created a bridal collection, which was discontinued in 1998.
The first women's beachwear collection was developed in 1989, followed by the first men's beachwear collection in 1992. In 2000, D&G launched both a men's and women's underwear collection, separate from their Dolce & Gabbana lingerie collection.
D&G launched an eyewear line in 1998 and a timepieces line in 2000.
In 2001 they launched the D&G Junior line for children.
In 2006 the duo launched the Anamalier line of leopard print accessories for women, and in 2007 they launched a line of crocodile travel cases for men. Other bags produced by the house include the Miss Sicily tote bag, and the "Dolce" bag, offered in straw and leather.
In 2009, they launched their first line of color cosmetics, with Scarlett Johansson as the face of the advertising campaign.
Dolce & Gabbana launched its first line of fine jewellery in late 2011 with an 80-piece line including bejewelled rosaries, charm bracelets, and necklaces. They later launched a fine jewellery collection for men.
Dolce & Gabbana have received several awards for their fragrances, as was described in the above sections. Their current fragrances include: "The One", "Sport", "Light Blue", "Dolce", "Classic", "Sicily", "The One Rose", and the original scents "Pour Homme" and "Parfum". On 16 October 2014, the company announced that Colin Farrell would be the face of their new fragrance called "Intenso."
Alta Moda was launched in 2012, inspired by Giovanni Battista Giorgini's efforts to promote Italian fashion and Made in Italy brands abroad. Over the years, the concept behind the project's idea of couture was to pay a tribute to the Italian domestic artisanship in all its expressions and to its tailoring tradition. Since its first runway show, Dolce&Gabbana has presented new collections at Italian landmarks such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Piazza San Marco in Venice or Temple of Concordia, Agrigento.
The main lines of the Alta Moda:
The Dolce & Gabbana Home Collection, launched in 1994, was discontinued in 1999, except for unique pieces created for D&G premises. In August 2021, Dolce&Gabbana introduced its first Casa furnishings and furnishing accessories collection, which was previewed in Venice during the Alta Moda events. The collection presented four themes: Leo, Zebra, Blu Mediterraneo, and Carretto, featuring a variety of furniture and interior accessories such as table ornaments, chandeliers, cabinetry, textiles, and other home decor items. The Casa brand's products were created through collaborations with Italian artisans, including Venetian furniture experts such as Barovier & Toso, Mian, I Dogi, Venini, Barbini, Salviati, and Tessiture Bevilacqua, who provided their procedural knowledge to the company. As of March 2022, the Casa brand collection was mainly available online.
Since 2004, Dolce&Gabbana has collaborated with A.C. Milan to design their on-field attire. Additionally, A.C. Milan players wear team-issued Dolce & Gabbana clothing for official functions off the field. The brand also created off-field suits for the Italy national football team. In 2010, a three-year agreement was reached between Dolce&Gabbana and Chelsea F.C. to provide the club's on- and off-field uniforms and attire, including outfits for female staff members. The deal included the creation of clothing for female staff members in addition to male staff members and the players themselves. The off-field outfits consisted of a dark blue suit with the lion symbol on the breast pocket. In addition, the designers revamped the club's director's lounge and main office reception area. Dolce&Gabbana also served as sponsors for the Milano Thunder Italian Boxing Team.
In 2006, Dolce&Gabbana entered into an agreement with Motorola, to produce the Motorola V3i Dolce & Gabbana cellular phone. Later, in 2009, the company collaborated with Sony Ericsson to produce a version of its Jalou cellular phone line that featured 24-karat gold detailing and the D&G logo. The company also entered a co-design partnership with Citroën to produce a version of their C3 Pluriel vehicle. In 2010, the brand partnered with Martini to release a "gold edition" of its vermouth. In the same year, Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with singer Madonna to launch a line of co-designed sunglasses known as MDG. In October 2024, Dolce & Gabbana teamed up with Stabilo to offer a limited edition set of 4 Boss Original highlighters.
The collaboration between Dolce & Gabbana and Smeg, established in 2016, combines Italian fashion design with appliance manufacturing to create a range of kitchen appliances. The "Sicily is My Love" collection, features products such as refrigerators, ranges, and small appliances adorned with illustrations reflective of Italian culture and Sicilian themes. The designs are categorized into two themes: Sicilian puppet theater and motifs inspired by Mount Etna and Greek ruins. Initially introduced at Milan Design Week, the collection has expanded over time, with new items launched in 2019.
The brand also launched the Dolce&Gabbana Perfetto Coffee, coffee product and tin set designed by Dolce & Gabbana, in collaboration with Italian stovetop coffee company, Bialetti.
Starting in 2021, Dolce&Gabbana collaborated with Sicilian dessert maker, Fiasconaro, to produce a line of Christmas panettone pastries wrapped in colorful tins and D&G gift bags. With Donnafugata, the brand decided to create Rosa, a new brand of rose wine. Italian chocolate maker, Baci Perugina, for its part, collaborated with Dolce & Gabbana in manufacturing chocolate pralines called Dolce Vita.
Sohee Park, often referred to as Miss Sohee, is a South Korean designer based in London and a graduate of Central Saint Martins. She is known for her demi-couture designs characterized by distinctive shapes and meticulous details.
In December 2021, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana announced a collaboration with Park for the Fall/Winter 2022 Milan Fashion Week. This partnership underscored the alignment of Park's design approach with Dolce & Gabbana's aesthetic values. Before establishing her own label, Miss Sohee interned at notable brands, including Marc Jacobs and Molly Goddard. Her debut collection, "The Girl In Full Bloom," received attention, with select pieces featured in publications like Vogue and Vanity Fair.
British designer Matty Bovan showcased his collection at Milan Fashion Week, marking his debut on the Italian schedule, thanks to the sponsorship of Dolce & Gabbana (D&G). After discovering Bovan's work on Instagram, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana provided him with financial support, design team assistance, and access to their archives. The collection fused Bovan's unique prismatic knitwear and hand-painted fabrics with D&G's signature elements like corsets. A significant portion of the collection was crafted in Yorkshire by local artisans, emphasizing Bovan's commitment to handcrafted designs with energy and soul. This collaboration is one of several recent initiatives by D&G to support emerging talents and bolster its brand image, following controversies. Bovan's collaboration with D&G highlighted the synergy between the craft-focused approaches of both entities, with many pieces reflecting a blend of both their styles. Bovan, a Central Saint Martins graduate, has been recognized for his innovation in fashion and has recently gained the attention and support of established brands.
Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with Japanese designer Tomo Koizumi, known for his vibrant and sculptural designs, as part of their ongoing support for emerging talent. Koizumi, who launched his brand in Tokyo in 2011, has dressed celebrities like Lady Gaga and was a finalist for the LVMH Prize. In this collaboration, Koizumi integrated Dolce & Gabbana's renowned Carretto print into his designs, merging his unique aesthetic with the brand's iconic patterns. Despite the collection's acclaim, Koizumi highlighted that his designs are primarily artistic expressions and not intended for commercial production.
The debut commercial for Dolce&Gabbana's first women's fragrance, starring Monica Bellucci and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, ran for several years in Italy. Set to the score of Ennio Morricone, the 30-second ad showcases different women going about their daily lives, with Bellucci changing into a vintage-style bathing suit behind a white sheet held up by two women. She then throws her bra on a cactus, and walks towards the ocean. In another scene, she is lying on a bed while a man stands outside her window holding her bra to his nose. The commercial ends with a shot of the fragrance bottles against a black backdrop. In 2003, Giuseppe Tornatore directed another commercial for the Dolce & Gabbana perfume Sicily, which was set at a Sicilian funeral.
Gisele Bündchen starred in the 2006 commercial for the fragrance "The One". The ad shows her getting ready in front of a vanity mirror, with flashes of paparazzi cameras appearing throughout. She then puts on a golden dress, shoes, and a pair of D&G sunglasses. Dolce&Gabbana has worked with numerous photographers and filmmakers on their advertising campaigns, including Giampaolo Barbieri, Michel Comte, Fabrizio Ferri, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, Mert + Marcus, Jean Baptiste Mondino, Ferdinando Scianna, Giampaolo Sgura, Mario Sorrenti, Sølve Sundsbø, Mario Testino, Giuseppe Tornatore, and Mariano Vivanco. he design house has won two Leadawards for their campaigns, one in 2004 for their Fall/Winter 2003/04 campaign, and another in 2006 for their Fall/Winter 2005/06 campaign.
Dolce & Gabbana's style is influenced by Italy's film history and thrift shop bohemian style, resulting in deeply coloured and animal print designs that have been described as "haute hippy dom". According to Domenico Dolce, the duo designs clothes to tell a story, similar to making a movie. Creating the most flattering clothes is their priority over setting fashion trends, and they have stated that they would not mind if their only contribution to fashion history was a black bra. The designers strongly identify with Sicilian culture and consider it their most important source of style and inspiration (Dolce & Gabbana 2007). The designers strongly identify with Sicilian culture and consider it their most important source of style and inspiration.
Dolce & Gabbana is known for trademark styles such underwear-as-outerwear corsets and bra fastenings gangster boss pinstripe suits, and extravagantly printed coats. Their feminine collections are backed by powerful ad campaigns, such as the iconic black-and-white ads featuring model Marpessa photographed by Ferdinando Scianna in 1987. The duo's designs are celebrated for their ability to flatter and enhance the female form, with Isabella Rossellini recalling how even their most modest designs, like a white shirt, were cut to make her look alluring.
In 1996, Dolce & Gabbana ventured into the music industry by recording their own single, which featured the phrase "D&G is love" over a techno beat. The pair were once called the "Gilbert and George of Italian fashion." Although relatively new to the fashion industry compared to Italian giants such as Armani and Versace, the designers attribute their incredible success in part to luck.
Dolce & Gabbana discovered a painting by a Venetian artist of Christ on the cross wearing their branded underwear briefs at the Venice Biennale. They commissioned the artist to paint their portrait, with the Madonna resembling pop icon Madonna Ciccone and the courtiers depicted as two putti at her feet.
In January 2016, the design house launched a high-end fashion line aimed at affluent Muslim women, featuring a collection of hijabs and abayas printed with daisies, lemons, and roses.
In addition to designing clothing, Dolce & Gabbana have co-authored nearly two dozen books featuring photographic narratives as well as collections of their own work. The proceeds of many of these books go to charities including the Children's Action Network and the Butterfly Onlus "école sans frontières" Foundation. The following is a bibliography of their literary works:
Dolce&Gabbana established La sede di via San Damiano atelier in September 1995, followed by the Lo showroom di via Goldoni, a seven-floor boutique and corporate space in 2002. They moved from their previous main showroom at Piazza Umanitaria to this new location. In July 2006, they opened another 5,000 square foot show floor at Lo showroom di via Broggi in Milan. The fashion house also purchased the Il Metropol theatre, a historic cinema in Milan built in the 1940s, which underwent renovation and was reopened in September 2005. In 2006, Dolce & Gabbana inaugurated IL GOLD, an establishment with café, bar, bistro, and restaurant areas. Additionally, they opened the Martini Bar, a co-sponsored drinking establishment at their Milanese men's showroom in 2003, followed by another Martini Bar at their Shanghai showroom in 2006. As of 2009, Dolce&Gabbana had 93 boutiques and 11 factory outlets and were sold in over 80 countries, with a total of 251 mono-brand stores.
In the United States, standalone boutiques can be found in Bal Harbour, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, and New York City, with boutiques in select department stores such as Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman.
Apart from developing runway shows and advertising campaigns for its collections, Dolce & Gabbana uses its spaces to host photography and art exhibitions. After the opening of the Il Metropol, they hosted two exhibitions by artist Ron Arad in the lobby space: Blo-Glo between April 2006 and April 2007, and Bodyguards in late April 2007. The brand also held photography exhibitions featuring the work of Enzo Sellerio in 2007 and Herbert List in 2008. In 2011, Dolce & Gabbana hosted an open house and architectural exhibition with Studio Piuarch, showcasing the studio's various architectural designs and projects since 1996. Studio Piuarch built the Dolce & Gabbana headquarters in 2006, where the exhibition and open house were held.
Dolce & Gabbana also uses its spaces for book launches and photographic exhibitions of its own clothing, such as the book launch of their book David Gandy in 2011. Additionally, they use other spaces, such as the Palazzo della Ragione in Milan, where they held a photographic exhibition of over 100 images selected from the history of US Vogue over its 90-year history in May 2009. The exhibition was called Extreme Beauty in Vogue.
The company has production factories in Legnano and Incisa in Val d'Arno.
In January 2022, Dolce & Gabbana announced their decision to prohibit the use of animal fur in their products, aligning with a growing trend in the fashion industry. Rather than using real fur, the company will collaborate with fur artisans to create sustainable faux fur alternatives and incorporate recycled materials in their designs. The Humane Society of the U.S. and Humane Society International partnered with Dolce & Gabbana in making this announcement.
Additionally, Dolce & Gabbana co-founded the Re.Crea Competition in August 2022, alongside other major fashion companies, to address textile waste management and promote research and development in the area recycling, in line with European directives on Extended Producer Responsibility for Textile Waste.
Following complaints from consumer groups in February 2007, Dolce & Gabbana pulled an advertisement in Spain that showed a man holding a woman to the ground by her wrists while a group of men look on. Spain's Labour and Social Affairs Ministry branded the campaign as illegal and humiliating to women, saying the woman's body position had no relation to the products Dolce & Gabbana was trying to sell. Italian publications followed suit, banning the ad. According to Debonair Magazine, "this Dolce & Gabbana advertisement has been criticized as a glorification of gang-rape. While one can never be sure of D&G's true intent, the company's penchant is for controversy." When asked about the ad being banned in Spain, Dolce & Gabbana responded that the "Spaniards were a bit backward."
According to The Huffington Post UK, feminist writer Louise Pennington also commented on the image. She stated that, "This particular image is a representative of an increasingly misogynistic contraction of women in the fashion industry demonstrating very clear links between the fashion-beauty industry and the mainstreaming of pornography. Those who suggest this image is harmless fail to recognize the reality of rape culture and the dehumanization of women's bodies in our pornographic mainstream media."
On 5 January 2012, it was reported that Hong Kong residents had been prevented from taking pictures of Dolce & Gabbana window displays in both their Hong Kong stores. In particular staff and security personnel at their flagship store on Canton Road asserted the pavement area outside was private property where photography was forbidden. The actions sparked protests spanning several days and gained international news coverage on 8 January. Citing the case of Zhou Jiugeng, a Nanjing official whose high-living lifestyle was identified by mainland Chinese internet users using photographs, local news reports speculated that the Dolce & Gabbana photo ban may have been imposed at the request of some wealthy Chinese government officials attempting to block details on the source of their wealth.
Dolce & Gabbana issued a formal apology to the people of Hong Kong from its Milan headquarters on 18 January 2012, confirming that it had no relation to the incident.
In an interview on 16 March 2015, issue of Italian magazine Panorama, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce caused controversy when they remarked, "We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one." They also criticized in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and surrogacy by saying, "No chemical offspring and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed."
Critics took to social media to voice their opposition, with the hashtag #BoycottDolceGabbana garnering 30,000 tweets on Twitter in five days. Celebrities, including Elton John, Madonna, Victoria Beckham, Ricky Martin, Martina Navratilova and Courtney Love, were among those expressing anger over the remarks.
According to Guardian, "in an interview in 2006, Gabbana revealed that he had approached a woman to be the mother of his baby but made it clear that he struggled with the idea of a same-sex family. "I am opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two gay parents," he said. "A child needs a mother and a father. I could not imagine my childhood without my mother. I also believe that it is cruel to take a baby away from its mother."
More than 10,000 people signed an online petition calling for Macy's and Debenhams to stop stocking the brand in their department stores, until D&G retracted their statements and apologized. Protesters also gathered outside Dolce & Gabbana's flagship London shop calling for an international boycott of the luxury fashion store.
Dolce & Gabbana criticized calls for a boycott on their brand as "medieval" and called to boycott Elton John. During an interview with CNN, the pair said "they respected how people chose to live their lives, including the use of IVF, and said others should also respect differences in opinion. They also added that they could have expressed themselves using better language to the Italian magazine but appeared taken aback by the social media backlash. "
In November 2018, Dolce & Gabbana released a series of videos on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter profiles, as well as its Sina Weibo account in China, featuring a Chinese model with her eye intentionally narrowed, dressed up in the brand's garments and accessories and clumsily attempting to use chopsticks to eat Italian food in a pretentious way. The video narratage is in Standard Mandarin with a hubristic and lecturing tone, while having sexually suggestive lines.
Social media users commented that it reflects Dolce & Gabbana's lack of understanding of Chinese culture and racism. Under the public pressure, D&G removed this series from its Sina Weibo while still keeping them on Instagram. Social media outcry was further exacerbated by a screen capture of racist comments alleged to have been made from the D&G co-founder Stefano Gabbana's Instagram account. Later Dolce & Gabbana claimed on Instagram that both the brand's and the designer's accounts had been hacked, also issuing a video where they apologized for the ads and asked for forgiveness from the Chinese people. "We have always been in love with China," Dolce said in the video. "We love your culture and we certainly have much to learn. That is why we are sorry if we made mistakes in the way we expressed ourselves." "We will never forget this experience and it will certainly never happen again," Gabbana said. "From the bottom of our hearts, we ask for forgiveness." Stefano Gabbana complained about removing the videos from the internet and called China the "Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia", adding that it was a "country of shit" and "feel inferiors" in the message. Later Dolce & Gabbana claimed on Instagram that both the brand's and the designer's accounts had been hacked.
Wang Junkai and Dilraba Dilmurat, both of whom served as the brand's celebrity ambassadors, severed their ties with the company. Other celebrities, including Zhang Ziyi, Li Bingbing and Chen Kun withdrew from the event. Ultimately, the show was cancelled by the brand.
Chinese e-commerce sites, including Alibaba and JD.com, removed the products of Dolce & Gabbana. The founders of Dolce & Gabbana apologized in a video on 23 November, which was posted on its Sina Weibo account, and also posted on Instagram and Facebook later. Throughout the video, the founders can be seen reading off a script from a teleprompter located on the right. At the end of the video, the founders were saying "对不起" (sorry) in Chinese. Meanwhile, the three videos were finally removed from the official Instagram account.
In May 2009, the Italian government charged Dolce & Gabbana with tax evasion for having moved assets of about 249 million euros to Luxembourg in the 2004–2006 period. On 19 June 2013, they were found guilty of failing to declare 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) of income to authorities after moving their brand to Gado, a Luxembourg-based holding company. The court sentenced them both to one year and eight months in jail. Dolce & Gabbana filed an appeal. On 30 April 2014, a three judge panel overruled the appeal and decided to uphold the initial sentence. Finally, on 24 October 2014, both Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were found not guilty of tax evasion by the Italian Court of Justice.
Following the cancellation of their 2018 show in China, Dolce & Gabbana filed a lawsuit against fashion watchdog Diet Prada, claiming defamation by the bloggers who reposted anti-Asian comments made by one of their designers. The $USD600m claim argued that the Instagram account was responsible for encouraging public backlash, the cancellation of their show and loss of business. In the lawsuit, the petitioners once again claimed that their Instagram account was hacked and then publicly apologized for the incident. The loss of business in question includes Chinese retailer Yangmatou taking down 58,000 Dolce & Gabbana products from their store. Luxury western retailers, such as Net-a-Porter, also removed them from their brand list. Fashion Law Institute lawyers are defending the Diet Prada founders.
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