Ancient Rome meets la vita bella: Dolce & Gabbana brings history to life at extravagant Alta Moda show

The National

3 days ago

As the sun set on Tuesday night, Rome's forum – built in the 7th-century BC – Foro Romano – came alive once again. Serving as the civic heart of Ancient Rome, the site of law courts and public meetings became the stage for Dolce & Gabbana 's Alta Moda show – transforming Via Sacra into a bustling, theatrical thoroughfare.
Presented as a love letter to the Eternal City, the show turned the ruins into a living tableau. Toga-clad senators, gladiators, dancers and poets wandered through the crowd, mingling with guests.
This was one event in the five-day extravaganza that is Alta Moda, where it is often difficult to tell models from clients – a testament to the immersive, over-the-top world Dolce & Gabbana conjures with its couture events.
Clients of Alta Moda are more than customers; they are collectors. Willing to spend undisclosed sums on one-of-a-kind, handcrafted creations, they arrive at these shows wearing gowns and suits from past seasons – many with yards of trailing silk, hand-painted trains, glittering headdresses and armfuls of feathers. Nothing is off limits, and everything is worn with the joy and theatricality it was designed for.
Like all Alta Moda shows, this was a tribute to Italian heritage and craftsmanship. The event was a year in the making, with research unearthing details such as Roman soldiers commissioning personalised armour – inspiring a series of looks built around ornately decorated breastplates, crafted from gilded brass and worn over draped chiffon or vast feathered skirts.
Rome's architecture provided rich inspiration. The city's Spanish Steps were depicted in delicate applique on a swing coat dress; the Colosseum, visible in the distance, appeared in gold stitching across a coat and on a domed skirt; and the Trevi Fountain splashed across a sequinned coat.
The Pantheon was referenced, as was the mythic statue of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, which adorned the opening look.
The priestesses of the Temple of Vesta, guardians of the Eternal Flame, inspired four pure white gowns that turned the female form into a living sculpture. Created using innovative techniques, the fabric was moulded into three-dimensional drapery.
Elsewhere, the house's signature glamour was ever-present. The sensual lace dresses that defined early Dolce & Gabbana were reimagined as translucent evening wear, covered in silvered flowers or smothered in mosaics of gold and silver beading.
Hollywood of the 1950s and 1960s loomed large. Rome, during its cinematic golden age, drew stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.
It was the setting for Roman Holiday, Cleopatra, Ben-Hur and La Dolce Vita – and the show tapped into this era with coiled pleats on a strapless dark red midi dress and retro silhouettes reworked with contemporary embellishment.
Like a bridge between centuries, Romanesque beading adorned corsets, hobble dresses and a founded cape, stiff with decoration. The collection moved fluidly between eras – from the marble temples of antiquity to the glamour of Cinecitta – without losing its sense of cohesion.
At a preview, the designers spoke about the brand's deep Italian pride: 'We honour our country by choosing to produce all of our products here in Italy, and we honour the 6,000 employees across Italy. They are the true soul of Dolce & Gabbana.'
This devotion was perhaps most visible in the accompanying Alta Gioielleria (high jewellery) collection, also inspired by Rome. The pieces – necklaces, rings, cuffs, earrings and watches – were handcrafted using gold, coral, precious tourmalines and ancient Roman coins so rare they required government permission to be used.
Miniature Roman statues were recreated in marble powder, fragments of sculpture became brooches and earrings, studded with gems. One transformable necklace was adorned with slices of stone, intricately laser-carved.
Guests including Isabella Rossellini, Cher, Christian Bale and Norwegian Manchester City footballer Erling Haaland watched as this pageant of decadence unfolded. It was a show designed not just for fashion, but also for history, art and theatricality – a total celebration of Rome, past and present.
Etched into one of the bejewelled necklaces on show was the Latin phrase 'veni, vidi, vici'. And that's exactly what Dolce & Gabbana did. They came, they saw, they conquered.