Dolce & Gabbana are one of the biggest fashion houses of our time and their clothing, fragrances, shoes and accessories are known everywhere – and deservedly so! Dolce & Gabbana, or D & G as they are often known is an Italian luxury fashion house that was started by 2 Italian designers – Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana back in 1985. It all started over the phone when the two met in Milan in 1980 after Gabbana called the fashion house Dolce was working for to enquire about possible employment opportunities. This led to one of the most successful partnership in fashion history. By 2005 the company turnover was nearly €600 million making them one of the fastest growing fashion houses of all time.

The strong identity of the Dolce & Gabbana brand has evolved over the years without ever forgetting its roots, especially where women’s fashion is concerned. It houses an unmistakable style, which, season after season, combines strong innovation with the Mediterranean flavour of its origins. This is a brand which essence lies in its contrasting features.

D & G made an immediate impact with their unconventional, risqué style of clothing – for example their signature women’s “corset dresses” – along with their provocative advertising, which caused them both success and legal nightmares. Some of D & G’s signatures are include underwear-as-outerwear (such as corsets and bra fastenings), gangster boss pinstripe suits, and extravagantly printed coats. Meanwhile their collections for women are always backed by powerful ad campaigns, like the famous black-and-white posters featuring model Marpessa photographed by Ferdinando Scianna in 1987.

In 2009 they launched their first line of colour cosmetics, with Scarlett Johansson as the face of the advertising campaign. Dolce & Gabbana launched its first line of fine jewellery in late 2011 with an 80 piece line including bejewelled rosaries, charm bracelets, and necklaces. The house has received several awards for their fragrances, including the Woolmark award in 1991, and the prize “most feminine flavour of the year” in 1993.

Dolce & Gabbana’s first fragrance, named simply Dolce & Gabbana for Women, was launched in 1992. A men’s version followed in 1994. The brand launched a series of fragrances over the years, with their Light Blue perfume from 2011 being among their most successful as it is a breezy and light scent that is suitable for wear at any time, evoking the spirit of a Sicilian summer. Other popular D & G fragrances for women include: Pour Femme (1992) a sweet and powdery with fruit and florals, The One (2006), an oriental fruity with mandarin, peach, plum and flowers and Dolce (2014), an exquisite soft scent with white florals, narcissus and water lily.