Dolce e Gabbana are seeing red for S/S 15. It's a given at a Dolce show that you'll be confronted with an enthusiastic, opulent ode to Sicilian life and this season was no different. Bullfighting and flamenco dancing were their starting point - a nod to the island's time under Spanish rule - hence all the jazzy polka dots that could have been borrowed from Carmen costumes (appropriately Bizet was the soundtrack) and bull graphics. The danger the duo face is how to continue their fun-filled Italian festivals, while not making clothes that look like pastiche or parody. Today, they fell slightly into that trap, sending out models-cum-matadors who looked more like they were in costume than high fashion. But then Dolce e Gabbana wouldn't be Dolce e Gabbana without a bit of dressing up - and while these looks provided good distractions for those who go to the shows simply to Instagram, they'd mixed them in with some proper commercial garb.
Some of the most sellable pieces were the sportiest - see those oversized polo shirts with voluminous sleeves that the duo have been playing with for a while or the cropped tailored trousers. Right now, it's intriguing to see Dolce e Gabbana - along with so many other luxury labels looking to cash in on younger, newer markets - respond to, and toy with, the fashions that are winning praise, and buyers, in London. One look, a long-line printed basketball vest with big baggy shorts and high top trainers, could have been lifted straight off a LCM runway.
All in all, Dolce have been having a tough time of late and while it would be easy to read into every collection they do and find hints of that - remember when everyone presumed S/S 14's coin print was a reference to their tax evasion trial? - it doesn't take a great mind to associate this collection with bravery and boldness, especially when faced with that imposing Red Army in matching shiny tailoring as the finale. Dolce e Gabbana come out fighting for S/S 15.
