Dolce & Gabbana SpA is
a high-end designer company owned by Domenico Dolce
and Stefano Gabbana. Dolce & Gabbana are very
popular for their designs in the Hollywood industry;
they have designed clothes for Madonna, Monica Bellucci,
Isabella Rossellini, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Lopez
and Angelina Jolie, amongst others. The company is
based in Milan. The private life of Gabbana and Dolce's
affairs became public in 2004, when they officially
announced their separation. The company will still
stay the same, and they will continue to design together.
Its first store in the United
States opened in March 1995 in the upscale shopping
mecca "the Galleria" in Houston's fashion
district. Since then, a boom in interest in their
clothes has called for openings of their boutiques
in other major cosmopolitan cities all over the world.
Their boutiques have become a symbol of high fashion
and couture.
Dolce & Gabbana is organized
into two central brands. 'D&G' and 'Dolce &
Gabbana' D&G generally forms the groups more casual
lines with cheaper prices. Dolce & Gabbana centralizes
on haute couture and expensive price tags. Within
each brand is 'Beachwear' and separately 'Dolce &
Gabbana underwear'.
History
Dolce was born on September 13, 1958, in Polizzi Generosa,
Italy, and Gabbana was born on November 14, 1962,
in Venice, Italy. As students, Gabbana studied graphic
design, but Dolce received a fashion education, studying
in Venice and working in the small clothing factory
his family owned.
In 1980, the duo met when they
worked at the same atelier in Venice. They began to
do freelance design in 1982, when they began doing
business together.
When their first collection
was shown in 1986, it received acclaim from around
the globe. Four years later, they revealed their premiere
menswear collection and opened a women's boutique
in Milan. Also in 1990, they started designing for
the Complice line for the Genny Group in Milan.
Recently, the fashion house
published a book chronicling 10 years of Dolce &
Gabbana history.
Dolce & Gabbana are on
the same line of couture houses of Armani, Versace,
Gucci, Prada and Moschino.
Dolce and Gabbana announced
on the 20th February 2005 that they would split up
after 19 years. Stefano Gabbana said that "This
is a love split, not a business split,". Moreover
he said "Domenico and I are still very good friends
and, as for the working relationship, we are still
very much together. Business, in fact, has never been
better."
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