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The story
Founded by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in 1980, in Milan.1
Early history
Dolce&Gabbana founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana met each other in 1982 while working for Giorgio Correggiari, an Italian fashion brand. Domenico Dolce was born on 13 August 1958, in Polizzi Generosa, while Stefano Gabbana was born on 14 November 1962, in Milan. Dolce began designing and making his clothes at the age of six.
1980s
In 1983, Dolce and Gabbana established their own design consulting studio, which they named "Dolce & Gabbana". Their first women's collection debuted in 1985 at the New Talents section of Milan Fashion Week, and the following year, they opened their first store in Milan.
The first meeting between the two happened over the phone when Dolce called the fashion company where Gabbana was working, looking for a job. After being hired by the company, Gabbana took Dolce under his wing and taught him the workings of a fashion company and how to sketch new designs. Shortly after Dolce's hiring, Gabbana was drafted for 18 months of civil service at an institution for the mentally ill, but after his return, the two created a design consulting business.
The company's 1986 Spring and Summer (SS) collection, titled Geometrissimo was presented alongside other fashion labels. Dolce & Gabbana did not have enough money to hire models or provide them with accessories, so they sought help from their friends. Their friends served as models and wore their personal items to accessorize the clothing. A bed sheet from Dolce's home was used as their stage curtain.
In March 1986, Dolce & Gabbana released their first self-produced collection, Donne Vere/Real Women, for the Fall and Winter (FW) 1986/87 season. The name of the collection was influenced by the local women who served as models on the runway. However, sales were initially disappointing, and Gabbana canceled the fabric order for their second collection. Later, during a visit to Sicily over Christmas, Dolce's family helped cover some of the costs. Incidentally, the fabric company did not receive the cancellation notice in time, and the fabric was ready for them when they returned to Milan. In September 1986, Dolce&Gabbana presented the SS 1987 Women's fashion show entitled Trasformismo. Despite working together, they always invoiced separately until an accountant advised them to invoice jointly to simplify things and make the business more cost-effective. The two began invoicing clients under the name Dolce and Gabbana, which became the name of their developing design business. They produced their next collection in 1986 and opened their first store the same year.
In 1987, Dolce & Gabbana presented the Women's Spring/Summer 1988 collection, titled Il Gattopardo/The Leopard. The next year they began designing underwear and swimwear, and by 1990 the company was exporting to Japan and the United States. In the same year, they launched their first perfume, Dolce&Gabbana Pour Homme and Dolce&Gabbana Pour Femme, produced and distributed by Euroitalia.
Dolce & Gabbana's fourth collection, influenced by Dolce's Sicilian roots, drew attention in the Italian fashion press. The collection's advertising campaign was shot in Sicily by photographer Ferdinando Scianna and included Dutch model Marpessa Hennink in black and white photographs reminiscent of 1940s Italian cinema. The brand's use of Italian cinema as a theme continued in their fifth collection, which drew upon the work of filmmaker Luchino Visconti and his film The Leopard.
Author and journalist Hal Rubenstein described one design, the so-called "Sicilian Dress" from their fourth collection, as "iconic" and the epitome of Dolce & Gabbana's style, due to its slip-like silhouette.
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In 2012, Hal Rubenstein described this work as follows: "The Sicilian Dress is the essence of Dolce & Gabbana, the sartorial cornerstone of the brand. The dress takes inspiration from a slip, but it is a slip that adorned Anna Magnani, and it is a silhouette that graced Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, and so on. The straps fit tightly to the body just like those of a bra; the neckline runs straight but is pinned at least twice, once on each side, to caress the two breasts and in the middle to meet an uplifting fold that provides slight support. The slip does not simply fall down but rises at the waist to hold the figure firmly but not too tightly, and then flares out to emphasize the hips, falling slightly tapered at the knees, ensuring the swaying of the hips while walking."
In 1987, Dolce & Gabbana launched their first knitwear collection line, and in 1989, they started an underwear and beachwear collection. In the same year, they launched their first women's fashion show in Tokyo and opened their first store in Japan together with Kashiyama Co.
1990s
In 1990, the company opened its first women's boutique in Via Sant'Andrea, Milan. Michael Gross wrote of their third collection in a 1992 interview, "They were a secret known only to a handful of Italian fashion editors. Their few models changed behind a rickety screen. They called their collection of T-shirt-cotton and elastic-silk pieces, Transformation." The clothing in this collection came with instructions on the seven different ways a piece could be worn in an outfit, as the wearer could use Velcro and snaps to alter the clothing's form.
In April 1990, they held their first fashion show in New York, started exporting their products to the United States, and founded their own showroom. That same year, Dolce&Gabbana presented the first Men's FW 1990/1991 collection. The collection consisted of linear-cut garments in dark, solid colors such as black, gray and burgundy. The common thread of the collection was the high-waisted trousers, combined with shirts, wool sweaters and blazers. The brand also moved the design house into its first official offices. The company also began to design gowns and other more expensive pieces in addition to their original clothing.
The designers' 1990 Spring/Summer women's collection was presented at the Gli Anni '60 fashion show and referenced the mythological painting of Raphael, while the duo began to build a reputation for crystal-encrusted clothing. The 1991 Fall/Winter women's collection was also adorned by trinkets, including filigree medals and embellished corsets. The 1992 Fall/Winter women's collection was then inspired by the silver screen of the 1950s, though the collection still included crystal embellished body suits.
In 1991, their men's collection won the Woolmark Award for the most innovative men's collection of the year. Madonna wore a corset made of gemstones and an accompanying jacket from Dolce & Gabbana at the 1991 New York City premiere of Truth or Dare: In Bed with Madonna, which was among the brand's earliest presentations outside Italy. In 1993, the duo collaborated with Madonna to design over 1,500 costumes for her Girlie Show international tour in support of the album Erotica. In 1994, the house's trademark double-breasted jacket was named "La Turlington" after model Christy Turlington. That same year the company launched the D&G brand, a line produced and distributed by Ittierre, aimed at younger individuals.
In 1993, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme was awarded the Perfume Academy's 1993 award for best feminine fragrance of the year.
They won an "Oscar des Parfums" for best male perfume in 1996 from the French Parfum Academy, the first time ever that the title has been awarded to an Italian brand. Towards the end of the 1990s their sales were around $500 million and in 2003 alone, their revenue reached $633.2 million.
In 1995, the brand presented the SS 1996 women's fashion show, Le Eolie, which included garments with leopard and zebra prints. That same year, Dolce & Gabbana's collections drew criticism from the British and Italian press for incorporating an American gangster theme as a design motif. The brand transposed this Fall/Winter 1995 inspiration onto women's wear, which critics stated brought an erotic edge to the clothing. The duo had used the motif before in 1992 when photographer Steven Meisel shot an ad campaign for the house in which the models posed in "gangster chic". This included wide-lapelled 1930s style coats and black leather caps.
In 1996 the D&G runway show was streamed on the Internet instead of being held on a physical runway, in an experimental move towards new media. That year Dolce & Gabbana also designed the costumes for the film Romeo + Juliet.
In terms of personal awards, FHM named Dolce & Gabbana as the designers of the year in 1996 and 1997.
2000s
Dolce & Gabbana designed costumes for the concert tours of Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston's My Love Is Your Love tour. They also designed stage costumes for Kylie Minogue's Showgirl Homecoming Tour and included Madonna in their 2010 advertising campaigns.
During this time, Dolce & Gabbana drew inspiration from the sport of football, and their designs continued to influence trends in both fashion and music. From 2004 to 2014, the brand worked with AC Milan to produce the team's official off-field suits. In 2002, their early corset designs were revived by many European designers as a trend. The brand also began holding private viewings of their new collections for buyers to pre-empt the copying of their designs by fast fashion companies.
In 2003, GQ Magazine awarded Dolce & Gabbana the title of "Men of the Year". British Elle readers voted Dolce & Gabbana the best designers at the 2004 Elle Style Awards.
In 2006, the company started a new journey in accessories and leather goods for men and women. In the same year, the brand launched a controversial ad campaign featuring two men kissing, which received criticism from some conservatives. However, the Advertising Standards Authority of Italy did not find the ad unacceptable for broadcast solely based on the depiction of two men kissing.
In February 2009, the Dolce&Gabbana makeup line was launched. Dolce & Gabbana created their first makeup in collaboration with make-up artist Pat McGrath. Scarlett Johansson appeared as the face of the advertising campaign for this new line.
2010s
In 2011, Dolce&Gabbana merged with D&G, with the aim of strengthening the main line. The final independent D&G collection was the Spring/Summer 2012 collection shown in September 2011. The New Yorker publication in 2005 stated that, "Dolce and Gabbana are becoming to the two-thousands what Prada was to the nineteen-nineties and Armani was to the nineteen-eighties—designers whose sensibility defines the decade."
In 2019, Dolce & Gabbana extended its size range up to UK 22, making them one of the first luxury fashion houses to move towards body positivity and inclusivity for women. While many high-end fashion houses produce women's clothing only up to size UK 16, Dolce & Gabbana has expanded its size range to include larger sizes.
2020s
In September 2021, Dolce&Gabbana collaborated with UNXD to issue Collezione Genesi NFT, its first non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The collection consisted of nine pieces, including five physical and four digital creations, such as "Glass Suit" and "Impossible Tiara", and was sold for 1,885.719 Ether (equivalent to nearly $5.7 million). This collaboration with UNXD was a significant move towards the incorporation of blockchain technology into the fashion industry, and was widely reported by publications such as Vogue and The New York Times as being one of the first NFT collections created by a major fashion house. A subsequent NFT project, DGFamily, launched with UNXD in 2022, later became the subject of a class-action lawsuit in the United States.
Dolce&Gabbana collaborated with the British-American designer Harris Reed to present Somali model Iman Abdulmajid at the 2021 Met Gala fashion event in New York City.
In 2022, Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with American media personality Kim Kardashian on the Ciao Kim capsule collection, which included garments in black, white, and silver, incorporating lace, crystals, and animal prints. In 2023, Kardashian appeared in the brand's Spring/Summer campaign, photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
In addition to working with public figures, Dolce & Gabbana has developed co-branded products with Italian companies in industries such as food, glassmaking, home décor, and textiles. These include Baci Perugina, Fiasconaro, and Murano-based firms such as Barovier & Toso, Venini, Salviati, Barbini, I Dogi, and Mian, as well as the textile producer Tessiture Bevilacqua. The collaborations have involved limited-edition packaging, food products, glassware, and fabrics.
In 2023, Dolce&Gabbana won the Craft and Artisanship Award at the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards.
In April 2026, Stefano Gabbana announced he had resigned from the company in December 2025. At the time of announcement, he is exploring options to sell his 40% stake in the company. The resignation was reported amid the company's preparations for negotiations with its bank lenders over refinancing approximately €450 million of debt.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dolce & Gabbana, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4