In a way Dolce & Gabbana have been very unlucky recently: soon after they showcased their richly embroidered Autumn/Winter 2013-14 womenswear collection inspired by the Cathedral of Monreale, Pope Francis appeared on the scene redefining through humility the wealth of the Catholic church.
A day before they showcased their Spring/Summer 2014 collection featuring images of ancient coins, Pope Francis stated money is the root of all evil (in Italian he actually said money is the "sterco del diavolo", that is the "dung of the devil"...), adding that this false idol sickens our minds, and poisons our thoughts.
Funnily enough, as the popularity of Pope Francis keeps on rising day after day even with non-religious people, Dolce & Gabbana's popularity has been falling, tarnished by their fame of tax evasors (a fame some of their supporters such as the British Telegraph tend to avoid mentioning to secure an invitation at the duo's exclusive high fashion shows...).
Trying to maybe recover their fame and reputation, the design duo opened their S/S 2014 collection with ethereal dresses with hand-painted or appliqued almond blossoms alternated to prints of ancient ruins, temples and theatres that linked these designs to the S/S 2014 menswear ones (there were also references to the shapes, silhouettes, and general looks of the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection). Ionic columns also appeared as heels or were replicated onto raffia handbags.
Yet, right when you thought they could maybe recover their passion for craftsmanship through idyllic scenes, they turned to money. The latter reappeared in the form of ancient coins (reminiscent of some early designs by Gianni Versace...) that you may find during an archaeological excavation, though it was maybe a Freudian nightmare of tax evasion that inspired this theme (bizarrely enough, one skirt also featured a prickly pear cactus motif and while that's Sicilian, it also became the symbol of the duo's "We are innocent" protest a few months ago, after the court issued the tax evasion sentence, D&G remained indeed defiant and posted pictures of the prickly pear cactuses in their window shops in Milan).
Soon gold took over with coins printed on mini-dresses and framed by the motifs of Sicilian ceramic decorations. Coins were also blown up and employed as the decorations for belts and corset-like waist cinchers, used as chain-mail for mini-dresses, or incorporated in the jewellery and hair pieces.
Even without press releases or official statements from the design duo, Italians may have spotted in some of the looks elements from Fellini's Satyricon. Actually this was an almost obvious connection: last October Dolce & Gabbana hosted indeed a private screening of the restored Satyricon at the 50th New York Film Festival, so they had the film firmly in mind.
Danilo Donati, Federico Fellini's costume designer, created great pieces and accessories for this film, reusing very poor materials (his mosaic made with Charms candies entered the history of Italian costume and set design...) and while foreign editors may have found it difficult ro reconcile the furry alpaca separates in bright shades that appeared at a certain point on the runway, if you knew the film, you would have probably remembered the vivid colours of Donati's costumes.
The pieces that created moments of confusion in the collection weren't indeed these designs, but the patent-looking lacquered silk dresses with gold coin belts that looked more Tinto Brass's Caligula than Fellini's Satyricon, and the polkadot dresses reminiscent of the blouses donned by Sophia Loren in Marriage, Italian Style by Vittorio De Sica.
The Loren-inspired designs were indeed a further cinematic tribute to a different kind of film and style of costumes, while the red lacquered pieces that preceded an army of models covered in gold dresses, rather than female empowerment brought back to mind the kitsch Roman orgies of the toga parties organised a few years ago by the rich and vulgar exponents of the Italian right wing party.
While all that final ostentatious gold shower (excuse the pun...) maybe hinted at Trimalchio the rich and impotent, the tenuous link with Caligula also brought to mind Francesco Vezzoli's trailer for the imaginary remake of Tinto Brass’s film with Helen Mirren donning a Versace toga - in a nutshell, there were more than just a couple of moments of undesired decadence.
Gold may cure the instant fashion needs of D&G's fashion aficionados and over the top clients, but the ostentatious coins rather than a provocative statement suddenly seemed to reinforce the words of Pope Francis: "(...) money begins by offering a sense of well being. Then you feel important and vanity comes (…) This vanity is useless, but still you think you are important. And after vanity comes pride. Those are the three steps: wealth, vanity and pride."
Next time it would be better to tone down all that gold or maybe call as consultant Pope Francis. After all, if he keeps on rising in popularity, come next Spring, he will be terribly à la mode. As for garish, grandiose and pompous looks, well, they may be out of fashion by the end of this year, so be really careful before investing in this trend.
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