When we hear “Dolce & Gabbana”, a very specific aesthetic is imprinted in our minds, a world-renowned identity that has marked the history of fashion. What we didn’t expect is the cultural and artistic turning point that the brand has impressed upon the heart of Milan. From April 7th until July 31st, Palazzo Reale hosts a unique exhibition, with an elaborate structural and conceptual core. The initiative stems from the collaboration of major powers in the industry, indeed promoted by the municipality of Milan and the IMG foundation, and curated by Florence Muller, director of the Union Française des Arts du Costume and curator of Fashion and Textile Art at the Denver Art Museum.

This unprecedented initiative in Milan is a truly complex and internationally scaled endeavour. The Italian metropolis is merely the first stop of an exhibition tour that will continue to other culturally significant cities. Drawing from the affiliated title, the exhibition is the visual transposition of a beating heart, an inner journey told through an author’s cinematic narrative. Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce have opened the doors to understanding their creative process, investigating and highlighting the intense bond between genius and hands, thought and action. Every form of expression is the result of human endeavour; primal gestures, manual precision, haute couture, are the finest tools capable of transforming any creative desire into visual reality. Opulence and high jewellery are showcased with a multitude of perspectives and communicative devices, drawing from the past but with a reading entirely relevant to our social context. The exhibition path is conceived and structured as a succession of 10 rooms, each a distinct identity unto itself. The perception is that of entering a dreamlike terrain or a suggestive mental grid, where different contexts and imaginaries blend and alternate with the ability to estrange from the outside world.