Dolce & Gabbana Dedicated Its SS´21 Collection To Resourcefulness – And Patchwork Galore

Ever since Italy came out of lockdown, Dolce & Gabbana have been prolific in their quest to regenerate their country’s fashion and tourism industries. While many brands at Milan Fashion Week are only getting back into the swing of runway shows this month, the one Dolce & Gabbana presented today – women’s spring/summer 2021 – was their fourth twirl on the catwalk since quarantine, following a men’s show in Milan in July and two bespoke shows in Florence in early September. With a creative output like that, it’s no wonder the designers found themselves inadvertently self-referencing during the making of this collection.

It was titled ‘Patchwork of Sicily’ because Domenico Dolce (who is from Sicily) and Stefano Gabbana decided to pay tribute to the multicultural history of their favourite island by patchworking single garments from elements belonging to each cultural influence, from the Spaniards to the Arabs and the Normans. “We realised that in ’93 we had already done this type of work, taking inspiration from a completely different world, which was the ‘70s,” Gabbana said in a video message. “So, we went into the archive and we recreated the same jacket, the same vest, the same skirt, the same shirt, the same trouser,” he explained, albeit in more contemporary cuts.

“At this point, we’re not talking about fashion,” Gabbana argued. “We’re talking about style, because such a strong theme presented itself to us again without even recalling our past.” After the global soul-searching of 2020, the notion of style over fashion has newfound relevance. The promotion of sustainability has as much to do with battling ideas of disposability and obsolescence in the way we shop and dress as it has to do with how brand’s manufacture. Following last season’s push for young people to appreciate the work of artisans – the theme of their February show – Dolce & Gabbana dedicated this collection to resourcefulness through repurposing: making a new wardrobe from your old one.

“It’s about not throwing away even the oldest thing,” Dolce said. “You might have old sweaters, trousers, shirts, and you can recreate from other things something new that is yours. But what’s important to us is that every piece is interpreted by skilled hands,” he said, emphasising the importance of supporting artisans. Reimbuing the old with new value has already been a theme this spring/summer 2021 season. In August, Virgil Abloh debuted his ‘Upcycling Ideology’ for Louis Vuitton menswear, which postulates that “no season is an old season” and vows to freely use pieces from previous collections in new ones, alongside an extensive sustainability plan.

For his spring/summer 2021 collection for Coach, Stuart Vevers mixed in pieces from last season, adding new surface decorations. On the morning of Dolce & Gabbana’s show, Angela Missoni announced her new in-season show format, which aims to increase appreciation for current-season collections by showing them when they actually hit stores. And on the same day, Silvia Venturini Fendi showed a collection dedicated to the passing down of clothes from one generation to another.

As for Dolce & Gabbana’s ‘Patchwork from Sicily’, it illustrated the designers’ point in a sensory collage of beautiful garments jigsaw-puzzled together from all the fabrics and colours of the eternally evolving island. “We hope that the young generations can treasure this type of art,” Gabbana concluded.