SS 10 Round-Up: Dolce and Gabbana Looking Back

Dolce and Gabbana SS10 RTW

Dolce and Gabbana SS10 RTW

All photos with thanks to Style.com

Dolce and Gabbana produced their first full collection in March 1986 with the presentation of their "Real Women" show. From here on the Dolce and Gabbana look, inspired by their Sicilian roots, became synonymous with overt lingerie ('the Latin temptress'), pinstripe suits ('the Sicilian gangster') and extravagant prints. It is the friction between these opposites - masculine/feminine, soft/hard and innocence/corruption -that has made Dolce and Gabbana so exciting for the past three decades. With the propensity for corsetry and sheer fabrics appearing on catwalks everywhere, underwear as outerwear has been the main trend to emerge for next summer. So it was no surprise that Dolce and Gabbana, for whom this style has always been embedded in their aesthetic, reclaimed the look, and, as Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier did, stamped their vision onto the world of lingerie.

The Dolce and Gabbana show, a 'tribute to the Sicilian way of life', saw the designers playing up their strong points featuring underwear and their signature corset, tailoring, print and elaborate lace. Sexy Sicilian women with tumbling bed hair pinned up with crystal barrettes squeezed into black lace corsets and bras. The camisoles, dresses, silk slips, skirts and shoes were all transparent, and crochet designs exposed traditional bodices and corsets beneath. Either body-con tops and waistcoats were cutaway at the front to reveal bras or bra straps peeked out from the top of dresses. Knee length and long sleeved lace dresses were worn sheer over black body stockings as though the model was caught halfway through getting dressed, or lace peeped from the hem-lines. Vintage style solid panelled corsets and big pants in black, white and nude, silk fringing and romper suits with pantaloon short shorts took you back to early Dolce and Gabbana. Their trademark red leopard print reappeared on a frilled flamenco dress which was slashed to the thigh, or mixed with clashing satin floral prints. So called ‘modern matadors’ walked the catwalk complete with shoelace ties, short hair, black jodhpurs, white shirts, cropped jackets and loafers, and of course the pinstripe masculine suits made an appearance.

In a final tribute to underwear, they replaced their traditional finale of ball gowns with a runway thronged with models in corsets as their dresses were whipped away to reveal 1950s style shape wear underneath. These were clothes that celebrated the hourglass figure, even if none of the models had them, and the eroticism of curvaceous women like Sophia Loren for whom the pair originally designed for. Their tried and tested mix of masculine tailoring with feminine corsetry ensured that the show achieved a modern reinterpretation of the Dolce & Gabbana woman and aesthetic.