At Dolce & Gabbana, blondes do have more fun. The designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have lately noticed a solemnity that’s descended over the fashion industry. “Fashion is a serious business—I know—but maybe now it’s too serious,” Dolce said. Their idea for spring was to take us to the movies; they channeled cinema’s most glamorous blondes—Marilyn Monroe, Monica Vitti, Marlene Dietrich—with platinum wigs, pin-up dresses, and rigid-cupped bras. Between quiet luxury and bullet bras, it’s no contest.
Madonna, who famously revived this 1950s look at the peak of her fame 30-odd years ago, was in the audience today. Jean Paul Gaultier was responsible for her Blond Ambition cone bras, but let’s not forget that Dolce and Gabanna designed costumes for her Girlie Show tour in 1993, in support of her album Erotica. At the time, her controversy-stirring coffee table book Sex was hot off the presses and the pop superstar was doing her part “to liberate America—free us all of our hang-ups,” as she famously said. When the designers greeted her after today’s show, the lip readers in the room could see her saying, “I want everything” from beneath her black lace veil.
On the runway, the bras were worn as lingerie, peeking out from underneath a classic trench or above a balconette-bodice dress. Or they were designed into the looks, from stretchy cocktail numbers to sartorial jackets. A double-breasted black satin tuxedo with built-in cone-shaped cups was a real feat of pattern-making; there are very few labels that could pull it off with such convincing aplomb.
Dolce and Gabbana have been reconsidering their oeuvre in the lead-up to the 40th anniversary of their brand. After last season’s ode to the tux, here they let some light in. A light pink long-sleeved sheath, modest save for the provocative bullet-bra bodice, was modeled on a photo of a young, smiling Marilyn Monroe. There was a strapless number with the same ingenue spirit in baby blue, and the lush florals were also pretty, especially the bold red rose print on a white ground.
And the viability of the bullet bra? It’s actually turned up on a couple of red carpets this year. Now that the nipple has been freed, padded and pointy is just a swing of the fashion pendulum. The models descended a mirrored staircase lit up like a movie set. It was easy enough to imagine starlets snapping these dresses up for the red carpet—as well as the many women who long to look like them.