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Dolce & Gabbana (pronounced dol-che gabb-an-a) is a high-end fashion house started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce, born near Palermo, Sicily, and Stefano Gabbana, born in Milan, Italy. Dolce & Gabbana are very popular for their designs in the Hollywood industry; they have designed clothes for Madonna, Monica Bellucci, Ayumi Hamasaki, Isabella Rossellini and Kylie Minogue amongst others. The company is based near Milan (Legnano). The private life of Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce became public in 2005, when they officially announced their separation. The business has remained unchanged and both continue to design together.^[1]

Clothing and accessories product lines

Dolce & Gabbana is organized into two central lines for adults: D&G and Dolce&Gabbana. Dolce&Gabbana specializes on more expensive luxury items, is influenced more by designers and is more formal and 'timeless', responding to long-term trends rather than seasonal changes. D&G is a more casual line that follows an urban inspiration and attempts to set trends rather than follow them. Both lines offer beachwear, underwear, corrective eyewear, sunglasses and fragrances; the D&G line also carries jewellry and timepieces. In 2005 and 2006, D&G and Motorola released a limited line of 1,000RAZR V3i phones, distributed by D&G boutiques and major Motorola retailers.

Dolce & Gabbana also produces D&G Junior, a separate line aimed at children under the age of 11. Similar to the D&G adult line, D&G Junior follows seasonal trends for boys and girls across a range of ages. D&G Junior is more visibly influenced by popular culture compared to D&G, such as the Ibiza line of D&G Junior.

Controversy

Dolce & Gabbana was publicly criticized by Britain's advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in January 2007, for an advertising campaign showing models brandishing knives.^[2]

Following complaints from consumers' 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 were trying to sell.^[3] Italian publications followed suit, banning the ad.^[4]

References in pop culture

Dolce & Gabbana, like many other upmarket designers, has recently gained in popularity especially among artists of such genres as R&B, Rap, Hip Hop, and Pop. The brand is featured prominently in the 2005 song My Humps by the Black Eyed Peas. Other mentions of the brand include Sex and the City and the film version of The Devil Wears Prada; the latter does not mention the brand directly and instead demonstrates its universal name recognition in the fashion industry by showing the main character answering a telephone and presently asking the caller, "Could you please spell Gabbana?" We then hear a dial tone as the other person has hung up, to which the clueless girl observes, "Guess not." The brand was also mentioned in Madonna's 1991 documentary Truth or Dare.

U.S. stores

There are six freestanding Dolce & Gabbana boutiques in the United States in New York City, Beverly Hills, Americana Manhasset on Long Island, Bal Harbour Shops in Miami, Las Vegas and The Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills, New Jersey. A boutique is to open in Boston on Newbury Street. Dolce & Gabbana also has numerous in-store kiosks across the US at high end department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.

References

External links

• Official website
• Yahoo! - Dolce & Gabbana SpA company profile
• Yahoo! - Marcolin SpA company profile