Milan stopped for Dolce & Gabbana‘s Fall/Winter 2025 show, an event that transformed the brand’s headquarters into a stage where fashion met the unexpected energy of the streets. Construction along Viale Piave forced trams to stop, but designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana turned the disruption into a spectacle. A temporary elevated runway stretched beyond the doors of their theater, inviting models to strut into the afternoon sunlight while thousands of fans – equally devoted and bewildered – cheered. The bass-heavy soundtrack, courtesy of Måneskin’s Victoria De Angelis, pulsed through the neighborhood like a heartbeat.
This season, the duo traded in their signature drama for a looser, more irreverent vision. The concept? “Cool girls.” Inspired by the off-duty styles of models like Vittoria Ceretti and Irina Shayk, the collection riffed on contrasts: lace camisoles tucked into slouchy cargo pants, oversized denim jackets lined with shearling, leather bombers dripping with crystal embellishments. “Spontaneity,” Gabbana noted backstage, defined the approach. “We wanted real life, but elevated.”
Shearling emerged as a quiet star, reimagined as luxe fur accents on utilitarian outerwear. A white fringed poncho, its texture rich and tactile, nodded to the brand’s sense of grandeur without veering into costume. Crystals, however, eschewed subtlety. Jeans and baggy cargos sparkled with clustered stones, transforming casual staples into pieces meant to catch stadium lights or sidewalk glances. The lightness of daywear shifted sharply after sundown. As the lights dimmed, models reappeared in abbreviated slip dresses-boxy, barely-there silhouettes adorned with even more crystals. Heels replaced boots; restraint gave way to sparkle.
De Angelis underscored the transition with a throbbing track that dared to ask, “Can you see my tits through my t-shirt?” The tongue-in-cheek question epitomized the collection’s ethos: defiance wrapped in nonchalance. Critics might call the aesthetic a throwback to Dolce & Gabbana’s early 2000s diffusion line, but here the nostalgia felt deliberate, polished.
©Photo: Dolce & Gabbana