Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (Dolce & Gabbana)

Dolce & Gabbana is not just a famous and iconic brand in the fashion world, it is also a duet. Duet of two talented Italian fashion designers - Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. South of Italy and North. Conservatism and freedom of morals. Austere black dresses that women of southern Italy love to wear and a riot of bright colors. They are so different and together at the same time.

Dominico Dolce

Dominico Dolce was born in southern Italy. Conservative, mafia, faithful to tradition, distrustful of outsiders south. His father was the manager of a sewing studio, his mother was the manager of a lingerie store. But the family lived quite poorly, his father's atelier did not bring much income and, as Dominico himself recalled, his mother was wearing his father's old clothes at home.

Since childhood, Dominico helped his father in the atelier, already at the age of six he skillfully held a thread and a needle in his hands, as a child he loved to sew miniature dresses and suits. But, however, after graduating from school, he did not go to work in his father's workshop, as his father himself probably expected, but entered the institute, where he did not study for a long time, the study seemed boring to him. And with training at an art school behind him, Dominico went to conquer the capital of Italy, and one of the capitals of world fashion, Milan.

Stefano Gabbana

For Stefano Gabbana, things were much better, he was born in the northern part of Italy, in a fairly wealthy family. Stefano's parents did not spare money for their son, he always had enough pocket money, loved to go to clubs and noisy parties, and even now he loves, unlike Dominico brought up in conservative traditions. Stefano loved fashionable and good clothes, he could afford to buy clothes from Fiorucci, a rather expensive brand that produced clothes that were very popular among Italian youth - bright, catchy.

Since childhood, Stefano loved to draw and, having trained as a "creative director", went, like Dominico, to conquer Milan.

There, in Milan, they met, initially working as design assistants, in 1982 they will open their own studio. At first, the joint business of Dolce and Gabbana experienced significant financial difficulties, and therefore their first show took place in one of the city cafes. But Dolce and Gabbana's clothes were interesting and are gradually gaining popularity. So in 1985 they were invited to the Milano Collezioni fashion show in the category of young talents. At the show, they presented clothes for Real Women - business, successful, beautifulbut not a perfect woman.

After the Milano Collezioni show, Dolce and Gabbana became popular. In 1987, their studio moved to a new, better place. In 1989, their first collection of lingerie and swimwear was released. In 1992 they release their first fragrance for women... And in 1993 this fragrance received an award from the International Academy of Perfumery. They are engaged in both accessories and the production of clothing for men, and in 1996 they released their first men's perfume.

Since 2006, Dolce & Gabbana has been dressing the Italian national football team. Among the celebrities, Dolce & Gabbana's clients are Kylie Minogue, Beyonce, Victoria Beckham, Sting and Madonna, for whom they have managed to work for almost nothing.

It so happened that when Madonna, who has always been an idol for Dolce and Gabbana, ordered them dresses for her tour, the designers, out of happiness, forgot to discuss the price. The costumes, whose number amounted to 1500 pieces, they sewed in an extremely short time - two months.Later, Dolce and Gabbana said that: "Perhaps we do not think about the value of our labor because we have already earned much more money than we are able to spend."

In addition to the creative duet, Dolce and Gabbana, until 2004, were practically a married couple, they did not hide their unconventional orientation. Since 2004, their duet has remained only creative.

So different not only in upbringing, but even outwardly, Dolce and Gabbana are united by their love for baroque style and Italian films from the 1950s and 1960s. They draw their inspiration from Mediterranean culture.