See all the pictures of Dolce & Gabbana's AW15 collection…
You can always rely on Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana for a rose-tinted take on their beloved Italy and its traditions. But they outdid themselves yesterday with an AW15 show dedicated to every good Catholic boy's icon – his mamma. In an over-the-top ode to fecundity, 11 mothers and their children posed in a tableaux at the end of the runway, while the catwalk itself was teeming with pregnant models (including Dolce favourite Bianca Balti, whose bump looked ready to burst), rosy-cheeked children (including three who were walking with their own mums) and models carrying babies – yes, a chubby four-month-old is an AW15 must-have, folks.
On each seat sat a booklet printed with the words from a classic song by Seventies Italian songwriter Edoardo Bennato, Viva La Mamma: 'Hurray for mum, she's fond of that skirt that's a bit long, always busy and absolutely sure, sometimes a bit severe, hurray for mum, hurray for the fairytale of the Fifties, so far away and yet so modern and so magic' (yes, we know, it probably sounds a lot more fabuloso in Italian). Hard as it was to tear our eyes away from the four-year-old throwing a tantrum at the end of the catwalk, and the mum with a large bump jiggling a baby about on her hip for the duration of the show (in heels! was she wearing orthopaedic insoles?), it was pretty much business as usual when it came to the clothes. Dolce & Gabbana's trends to take away:
Baby Pink And Pastel Blue Mixed in with the usual acres of Sicilian widow-worthy black and white lace were some delectable looks in pale sugar pink and baby blue – including long-sleeved shift dresses embellished with a very-this-season Sixties vibe. See every single look from the Dolce & Gabbana show in the gallery above. It's Coming Up Roses Last season's tour through Seville resulted in a flirtation with carnations, but for AW it's all about the classic blood-red long-stemmed rose, inspired by the rose fragrance of Stefano's mother's lipstick when he was a little boy. They were appliquéd on the fronts of dresses in velvet and sequins, blossoming over lace looks in the form of embroidery, printed on satin pencil skirts and attached to shoes as corsages.
Scribble Prints And Children's Motifs The prints and embroideries were inspired by the drawings of Stefano's nieces and nephews, with dresses covered in appliquéd cats, houses with smoking chimneys straight out of a toddler's drawing book and puffy letters spelling out motifs such as 'Per la mamma piu bella del mondo' (for the most beautiful mum in the world). The silk finale dresses were covered in scribblings of stick men. So for AW15 at least, don't bother backing away when a toddler approaches you with sticky, paint-covered mitts…
Headphones Are The New Hairbands A Dolce catwalk is never complete without lashings of crystal-encrusted accessories. And there were hairbands, of course – lots of them, scattered with sequins and pearls. But instead of the baroque gold crowns and jewels of SS15, the pièce de résistance this season was a pair of gem-studded headphones ('the 'Taylor' style if you were wondering, from hot tech brand FRENDS) were given the Dolce customisation treatment'– just perfect for blocking out all that screaming and carving out a bit of 'me-time', mums...
