Dolce & Gabbana stage stealth Sartoria show

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jun 17, 2017

Zitto Zitto! meaning hush hush, was the instruction when the texts started arriving to editors, retailers and VIPs inviting them to Dolce & Gabbana’s last minute Sartoria runway show on Friday night in Milan.
 

Friday night used to be the quiet evening when editors and buyers checked into their hotels in Milan and had room service dinners. These days, from mid afternoon to late night, brands compete feverishly for their attention.
 
Prada invited a select group for individual viewings of Alejandro G. Inárritu’s remarkable Carne Y Arena, a short virtual reality film of what it feels like to be a refugee crossing the Mexican-American border and facing angry border cops. Stunning, brutal even, and brilliant. Next up, the Milano Moda graduate student show; before a Myar presentation, store opening by Acne, Zegna show in the city university and finally the Sartoria moment. And not forgetting three after parties. Milan seems poised to boom again.

And, so barely 150 insiders gathered over glasses of Campari or Negronis inside Martini Bar, Dolce & Gabbana’s hipster café meets club on central Corso Venezia.
 
The cast marched in classic Sartoria fare – razor sharp suits with shortened pants and jacket lapels edged with piping; silk dressing gowns worn to dinner; sleek and sassy cashmere chalk strip banker suits worn with micro bow ties. And almost a dozen pairs of pajamas, a reminder that long before Zara began referencing Gucci floral pajamas, Dolce & Gabbana had invented the whole virile-men-wear-pajamas concept.
 
It all climaxed with several Lotharios in beautiful silk dressing gowns; a reminder that these designers can customize prints at the request of wealthy clients – printing any image they want, from luxury yacht to favorite pet or amour.
 
And to think; the duo only decided to stage this event on Wednesday. Talk about a stealth show.