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Dolce & Gabbana open ‘Gold' restaurant

Dolce & Gabbana are no strangers when it comes to opulence, and it comes as no surprise that the glamorous duo's new endeavour, a restaurant called ‘Gold', bares as its name the ultimate symbol of money and luxury. Gold has long been key to D&G's collections, being it their jewellery, ready-to-wear, accessories, and now restaurant décor.

And while this isn't the first, nor last, celebrity or designer restaurant, Dolce & Gabbana at least know how to make a tasteful statement. The plush location opened with smooth and shimmering golden accents everywhere, serving international Italian food. Gold has several levels including a downstairs bistro that opens at lunchtime and a more formal upstairs that serves dinner only.

According to the website, the golden theme isn't necessarily intended to represent money and luxury (yeah right), but more importantly gold is "an upbeat, sunny color" that signifies a "taste for beauty and for sensual pleasure." Judge for yourself the next time you're in Milan.

www.dolcegabbanagold.it
29 March 2007

New D&G ads banned in UK

Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian fashion house best-known for its sexy corsets and glamorous dresses has come under scrutiny for a series of ‘violent' adverts for its new fashion campaign. Two of these have been banned from the UK. Reuters reported that an advertising watchdog criticised the company who in their latest ad show models brandishing knives. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the industry regulator, upheld more than 150 complaints from people concerned that the stylised pictures glorified and condoned violent crime, says Reuters.

The ads, which appeared in the The Daily Telegraph and The Times, showed two men holding a wounded women and two men threatening a man in a chair while another lay on the floor with a head wound. Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have always exuded a theatrical element in their design, oft preferring to be flashy and controversial over demure elegance. The ads were meant to have a similar theatrical effect depicting Napoleonic art, however after hundreds of complaints the ASA has ruled the opposite, stating they are causing widespread offence and sending a wrong message to young readers.

"The ad could be seen as condoning and glorifying knife-related violence," the ASA said of the Times advert. "It was irresponsible." Dolce & Gabbana said the adverts drew no complaints when they were published in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States.

www.dolcegabbana.com
10 January 2007

D&G sees double-digit growth

Dolce e Gabbana has realised double-digit growth in both revenues and profits. For the year ended 31 March net profit increased 11 percent to €108.8 million on sales up 18 percent to €809.5 million. Original forecasts estimated sales growth of 15 percent.

This fiscal year the company will consolidate the sales volume of the D&G diffusion line with that of the core Dolce e Gabbana activities. The diffusion line will be produced and distributedentirely in-house for the first time this year after Dolce e Gabbana ended its 12-year licensing agreement with IT Holding. D&G generates about €250 million in annual sales and the company expects double-digit sales growth during its first year under direct management. The consolidation of the two labels will turn Dolce e Gabbana into a €1 billion fashion company.

“We intend to continue along the growth path of the last few years, and at the same time retain our independence,” Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana said in the annual report. “This will allow us to fully develop the still-unrealized potential of our brands and the markets in which we operate.” Like Armani, the duo does not want to take the company public, preferring independence to having to answer to shareholders.

In 2005 the company invested €130.5 million in operations, double the amount in 2004. It invested €48.6 million in commercial spaces, including its new headquarters. Capital expenditure also included communications investments up 18 percent to more than €86 million. Meanwhile, earnings before interest and tax gained 14 percent to €163 million. Thanks to royalties and cash flow from eyewear licensee Luxottica, the company has managed to eliminate its debt. Its current net position is €85.8 million, up from a debt of €21.4 million the year before. Dolce e Gabbana is also investing significant amount in the D&G brand. Christina Ruella, director of General Affairs for the company, told WWD that it might on day, “in the very long term” generate more revenue than the Dolce e Gabbana brand. In the meantime, it has hired 460 new employees to develop the brand and plans to take on another 40 as the business develops.

Wholesale revenues rose 10 percent to €1.15 billion, with women's wear and accessories representing 60 percent of the total. Apparel, with 46 percent, represents the majority of wholesale sales. This category saw sales rise 7 percent to €530.6 million, while leather goods sales soared 32 percent to €123.6 million. Sales from watches, eyewear, fragrances and jewellery climbed 6 percent to €432.1 million.

www.dolcegabbana.it
31 October 2006

D&G in counterfeit suit

Dolce e Gabbana has been ordered by a French court to pay damages for the reproduction of a watch design by French watchmaker Pascal Morabito. According to the Agence France-Presse, the department store Les Galeries Lafayette has also been convicted for selling the Dolce e Gabbana watch in its stores. Together the parties will have to pay Morabito €150,000 in damages, with Lafayette having to pay up to €20,000. The court also ordered the destruction of the remaining watches in stock, accompanied by a fine of €150 a day for every day of delay after the two months following the sentence have ended. If it does not comply, Dolce e Gabbana is obligated to publish the judge's sentence in Le Figaro and must place a summarized version, in French, on its website for three months. The court took into consideration the minor differences between the two designs during sentencing, but found that the D&G model had reproduced the combination of characteristics of the original Morabito design.

www.dolcegabbana.it
26 October 2006

D&G search for Europe's most creative young people

Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are out to find Europe's most creative young people with their new D&G Award, named after the designers' younger line. Participants in the first edition hail from various European universities and are competing to win a chance to create a TV spot for the next D&G Time commercial.

Students must present a concept, treatment and storyboard to judges Dolce and Gabbana. The designers will select a winner at the end of next month. In July, that person will go on to film the ad, which is set to run on European stations in the fall. The designers said this is the first of what should become an annual event, adding that it will traverse all elements of a fashion brand, not just advertising.

Dolce & Gabbana celebrate 20 years in business

Dolce & Gabbana know how to create a controversy as much as they know how to throw a good party. The scene at their 20th anniversary show was always going to be the most sought after ticket at Milan Fashion Week. People were climbing over each other to enter a restored theatre in East Milan – guarded by an army of security – only to be roughly turned away if you showed up sans invitation. Dolce & Gabbana have graced the catwalks with their "molto sexy" style for two decades reflecting the preferred look of the country's natives far better than Armani's sleekness or Prada's quirkiness ever do.

Quite how everyone else feels about it tends to depend on how overtly sexy you like your clothes. If body clinging underwear-as-outerwear is your preference and you believe there is no such thing as too much animal print, than Dolce & Gabbana is for you. If you just want to blend in, go to Gap. Oddly, though, the collection was an unexpected break from their well-beloved style. It was more akin to that of John Galliano, with references to an 18th-century French style.

The show began with a sentimental retrospective film of the designers' career, although the solemn music overlaying the black and white shots of the models (including a sweetly fresh-faced Kate Moss) occasionally gave the proceedings a somewhat morbid tone, as if the designers had died and this was their wake. But things got merrily on their way, with a selection of siren red dresses followed by the usual collection of corsets and bras. The floral segment was the prettiest, with a silk coat embroidered with poppies tied loosely over starchy petticoats.

This was then followed by models flouncing down the runway in enormous ball dresses of the sort usually seen in costume dramas. But if the clothes were a bit of a break from the Dolce & Gabbana norm, the front row definitely was not. The formula one driver Jenson Button and the pop star Lee Ryan sat in the premier seats, gazing up at the models with expressions best described as appreciative. Nearby, Elizabeth Hurley stared intently up at each new frock. And when the designers themselves came out to take a break to the strains of Barry White, all seemed back to normal in the Dolce & Gabbana empire.

30 September 2005

Santucci quits D&G, McMahon joins

Giacomo Santucci has resigned from his position as commercial, licenses and retail director at Dolce & Gabbana. The former Gucci chief executive joined the company only six months ago. A Dolce & Gabbana spokesman in Milan declined to give any details, saying only that Santucci had left “for personal reasons”. In the statement released by the company it thanked Santucci “for his valuable collaboration and competence demonstrated during his brief stay within the company.”

According to industry rumours, Santucci might have become frustrated with his position's lack of authority to make decisions. The role was a new one that reported to Alfonso Dolce, Domenico Dolce's brother and board member, and Cristiana Ruella, general affairs director.

Santucci had been responsible for coordinating all commercial functions, including wholesale, retail and licensing, as well as “harmonising” the market presence of its two brands, Dolce & Gabbana and D&G. In other words, the role was beneath his chief executive role at Gucci, from which he was ousted last year during a management overhaul. The industry was surprised by his taking on an inferior position after he had long been considered to be the heir apparent to Domenico De Sole, the former Gucci Group CEO, before relations with PPR soured.

Just as word of Santucci's resignation came, Dolce & Gabbana apppointed a new US president, Glenn McMahon, the former president of Ellen Tracy. He will be joining the firm on 12 September and will be succeeding Gabriella Forte, who announced her decision to leave the company after three years in March.

“Right now, I'm making sure there's a smooth transition,” said Forte, who stayed on to ensure just that. McMahon will report to Dolce & Gabbana's board “for all matters concerning the subsidiary's management”, the company said in a separate statement. In the past, McMahon has worked for Kenneth Col e and Giorgio Armani Le Col lezioni.

www.dolcegabbana.com
7 Augustus 2005

Dolce & Gabbana get broody

Italy 's most famous design duo and gay couple have controversy hot on their feet once again. As famous for their sexy designs as for their shocking advertising, the duo, who earlier this year reported to be parting ways as partners, have stated they now want to have children.

In an interview with Italian Vanity Fair, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have said they would like to have a son, if not more children. Italian law, with its Catholic influence, does not allow gay couples to adopt children. "I have this little handicap of being gay," Dolce states, "and having a child is something I am not allowed. I could adopt one or contrive it in some way abroad, but I am paralysed with the fear that the child would feel it had been used."

www.dolcegabbana.com
4 August 2005

Blue Boy for D&G

Singer Lee Ryan of boy band, Blue, has been chosen as the new ambassador for D&G. Lucky Ryan gets his pick of the collections as long as he wears at least one piece designed by Dolce e Gabbana every time he appears on stage.

Ryan is about to embark on a solo career and his new debut single Army of Lovers is to be released on 18 June. In light of this, he will have ample opportunity to wear the duo's creations. He will not, however, be receiving money for this honour. A spokeswoman told vogue.co.uk: "He will just get lots of free clothes and they have the advantage of the fact that he is going to be such a succssful solo artist." Ryan joins the ranks of David and Victoria Beckham and Kylie in his role of D&G ambassador.

www.dolcegabbana.com
27 June 2005

Dolce & Gabbana win court case

A Paris court dismissed a damages claim by French fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac against the Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana for selling a teddy bear design he said copied his. The court ruled that the fact de Castelbajac had used the bear design on a coat did not give him rights over other clothing articles containing the same idea.

De Castelbajac had asked for 250,000 euros in damages after Dolce and Gabbana marketed a skirt with similar brightly coloured bears. Instead, the court ordered him to pay the Italian company 4000 euros to cover legal costs.

www.dolcegabbana.com
1 June 2005

Santucci at D&G

Giacomo Santucci, who was 'terminated' as CEO of the Gucci brand last year, will begin his role as commercial, licenses and retail director at Dolce & Gabbana next Monday. This new appointment is contrary to what most people - who thought he would become a CEO at a new label - had expected.

Santucci will report to Domenico Dolce's brother, board member Alfonso Dolce. General affairs director Cristiana Ruella told WWD in a telephone interview that the job would involve "harmonising the market presence of the two brands, Dolce & Gabbana and D&G, across the board." She added the Santucci will be involved in a finding a replacement for Gabriella Forte, Dolce & Gabbana's USA president, who recently decided not to renew her contract.

Santucci was widely believed to be in the running for the role of Group CEO at Gucci when Domenico de Sole and Tom Ford left last April. However, former YSL Rive Gauche boss, Mark Lee, replaced him when Robert Polet took over the reigns from De Sole. Santucci first joined the Gucci Group as CEO of the Gucci brand in January 2001. De Sole had been responsible for bringing him on board.

www.dolcegabbana.com
9 March 2005

End of dolce vita

Partners in life and fashion Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have split up after 20 years together. Or almost. While the couple have announced their separate ways, they will continue to run the company they founded in 1985.

For a fashion label so heavily based on the merits of sexual frisson and which was founded by a couple in love, a romantic split creates an interesting predicament. It will be interesting to see the effects of their break on their work, though it is unlikely that the split will be too damaging. When asked if they were likely to get back together, Mr Gabbana said: "I don't think so," when Mr Dolce interjected: "Never say never…"

19 February 2005

Frock Stars!

Italian duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have become inextricably linked with music thanks to their sexy outfits created for the industry's beautiful people. Their new book, called "Music: Dolce & Gabbana" shows off some of their memorable designs, from Kylie's fever Tour stage costumes to styled shoots with Jennifer Lopez.

Featuring over 200 photographs by the likes of David Lachapelle and Herb Ritts, handwritten notes from the musicians, superb graphics and fabulous shiny gold packaging, it's a must, not just for music and fashion followers, but fans of visually impressive design, too. The book is published by Assouline and costs £50.

1 February 2005

Picky Designers

Stefano Gabbana of Italian design duo Dolce & Gabbana has been gossiping about his clientele with a reporter from The Independent. Gabbana revealed that the duo is quite picky about who they dress. Many a pop star has asked to borrow the glamorous clothes but Gabbana draws the line at people he doesn't like. "(…) maybe because I don't like the people, I don't like the singer, I don't like the song," he said.

He admitted to loving Kylie Minogue, Lenny Kravitz, Sting and George Michael, although the latter declined the duo's offer to wear their clothes. Gabbana pointed out that the singer declined them in the most polite manner, though. Gabbana was only star struck once, and that was when Madonna requested a fitting. "She was the designer who made me feel nervous," he revealed.

Gabbana admitted that designers like to have celebrities wear their clothes, because it is the best way to advertise. And it's free. "You don't make money but you become, you know, popular."

www.dolcegabbana.it
16 December 2004

D&G in lawsuit?

Fashion's new suit is the lawsuit. Or so it appears for Italian design duo Dolce e Gabbana. The west London designer Deborah Nicholas claims that the pair have copied her designs for her label Debonair.

According to Nicholas, the famous designers first visited her store in February 2000 and became steady customers, returning regularly to buy her designs. In 2002 she spotted the first of a series of D&G designs that bore a striking resemblance to the ones she had sold to them. The items include a clutch that was featured in the Evening Standard, a Manga print T-shirt and a gold top.

She reportedly confronted Domenico Dolce last month, but apparently to no avail. Nicholas has now sought legal representation with the London law firm, Berwin Leighton Paisner, who are copyright specialists. Although the firm has agreed to represent her on a conditional fee basis, this unfortunately does not cover all the cost for high court action. Nicholas is therefore soliciting donations and is asking any interested parties to contact her at her email address: debonair2069@hotmail.com

www.dolcegabbana.it
8 November 2004