Dolce & Gabbana

Domenico Dolce, born in 1958 in the Sicilian town of Polizzi Generosa, and Stefano Gabbana, born in 1962 in Milan, met in 1982 while both were working at the studio of designer Giorgio Correggiari. The following year they set up their own design consulting studio under the name Dolce & Gabbana. Their first womenswear collection was shown in 1985 in the New Talents section of Milan Fashion Week, and the pair opened their first store in Milan the following year. The house's identity has always drawn on the contrast between its founders' backgrounds — Dolce's Sicilian upbringing and Gabbana's Milanese one — expressed through figure-hugging silhouettes, bold prints, heavy embellishment and reworked tailoring that mixes formal construction with overtly decorative, southern Italian references. That dual identity, sometimes summarized as 'Sicily meets Milan,' has remained the throughline of the brand's collections and store concepts for four decades, including its flagship presence in both cities referenced in this listing.