For Dolce&Gabbana Madonna interprets (also) Italian beauty
The star, a long-time friend of the two designers, attended the fashion show of the collection that pays tribute, as they explain, "to an ironic and powerful female figure, who has spanned the decades immortalised by the cinema, capable of asserting her personality while remaining true to herself".
3' min read
3' min read
With Madonna one cannot have absolute certainties, although her presence at Dolce&Gabbana had been announced. But the feeling that she would really make an appearance, perhaps at the last moment, with a 'typical' diva entrance, came when listening to the songs resonating in the Metropol, the former cinema bought years ago by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, where the brand's Milanese fashion shows take place. Particularly striking was a song from 1986, Live to tell, part of the singer's third album (True Blue) and which was her first single to top the US Billboard charts, the most important then as now, although the physical media of almost 40 years ago had moved on to streaming.
Madonna's connection with this song, poignant in its melody and lyrics (of which she is the author), is very strong: she also included it in the Celebration Tour, which between 2023 and 2024 confirmed her ability to embrace not only genres but, more importantly, generations of fans. The title of the song - and many of the verses, really like a poem - tells a lot about the relationship between Madonna and Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. We could translate Live to tell as 'Living to tell' and although the song also speaks of love disappointments, it then says I know where beauty lives, I've seen it once. It may be too romantic to say - but in this dark phase, in so many ways, of history, romance is a powerful medicine -, Live to tell represents both Madonna's long artistic journey and that of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, as well as the story of their partnership, which goes far beyond fashion.
"Madonna has always been an icon of ours and it is also thanks to her that so many things have changed in our lives," said the two stylists yesterday, who launched their brand two years before Live to Tell, in 1984, and who since 1991 have built a relationship of trust and friendship with Madonna, who that year chose to wear a bodice studded with coloured stones and crystals in New York, on the occasion of the premiere of the film In Bed with Madonna. It can't be a coincidence that the Dolce&Gabbana collection that walked the catwalk yesterday ("Italian Beauty") is also a tribute to the bodice, albeit revisited and paired with both day dresses and looks more suitable for special occasions. Over the years, and in part thanks to her many collaborations with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (advertising campaigns, costumes for tours, but also books and even a line of eyewear designed by herself), Madonna has enhanced her Italian origins while remaining a symbol of American pop culture.
Yesterday she sat in the front row covered by a black lace veil, embodying the essence of the Dolce&Gabbana style and perhaps that ideal of Italian beauty to which the collection for next spring-summer is dedicated. "For us, Italian beauty is a perfect synthesis of sensuality, character and charm," explained the two stylists. "This collection pays homage to an ironic and powerful female figure, who has crossed the decades immortalised by the cinema, capable of affirming her personality while remaining true to herself. As they did: on some dresses, for example, flower prints inspired by the archive stand out. They too, after all, 'live to tell the tale'.
