Milan’s Social Moment at Dolce & Gabbana

No doubt about it, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce hit a home run when it came to celebrity batting, in an Italian fashion week, that was a largely celebrity free zone. Their front row at their signature fall 2009 collection shown Monday, March 2, boasted Eva Mendes, Kate Hudson, “Slumdog Millionaire” star Freida Pinto, Naomi Watts and Scarlet Johansson, the star of the duo’s new beauty ad campaign.

Up on the catwalk, the signature image in their show was the final look, a diaphanous ball-gown featuring a huge black and white image of a smiling Marilyn Monroe. And in case you did not get the bombshell reference, there were three blond former models also sitting front row – Eva Herzigova, Claudia Schiffer and Nadia Auermann.

The most common look on the runway were animal print blouses, tops and jackets with protruding shoulders, worn by models with Surreal skullcaps, harking back to Elsa Schiaparelli’s pre-war silhouettes and fantasy hats.

The runway show felt more like a wacky appreciation of the season’s biggest social event, the opening of the “Extreme Beauty” exhibit featuring photography from Vogue magazine throughout the years.

The exhibit showcased a bold series of images and was thoroughly memorable. Their opening in the medieval Piazza dei Mercanti was also pretty dramatic. Curated by the great French architect Jean Nouvel, the exhibition was a master class in how to stage photography.

Mounted on a double level display gallery, and set within individual black box displays, the setting cleverly focused attention on the photos, as it enhanced their quality. Starring Irving Penn’s legendary images like of faces composed of fish and foul, and featuring iconic photos by the likes of Steven Klein and Helmut Newton, the juxtaposition of theatrical makeup, kabuki, and haute glamour appeared to have injected its ideas into Dolce & Gabbana’s show.

Three days earlier, the design duo presented their “junior” collection D&G in which they took a courageous stance, as they do each year. Where other designers build scores of options into their “junior” line, this duo take a single strong theme and run with it.

For fall 2009 their inspiration was opera, telegraphed by the show’s backdrop – antique posters from La Fenice, Venice’s legendary opera house. The musical announcements showed up in bustier dresses, and mini bubble gowns.

The extravagant costume chic on display was all about a nostalgia to be dressed up, something few other designers seem to yearn for in these troubled times. It was a sexy take on glamour dressing in crinoline skirts worn over mega platforms, accessorized by glitzy intermission clutches.

* The Pussycat Dolls Fall 2008 Fashion Show; Los Angeles		* A Very Betsey Birthday Bash * Martha Davis: Industrial Design Meets Shoes