It\u2019s been called a love letter to Italy and a grand tour through the nation\u2019s history and culture. The Dolce&Gabbana fashion exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Miami\u2019s Design District is all that \u2013 and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands\u201d is an exuberant paean to beauty, excess, detail, ritual and creativity that is deeply intentional. Taken together, says curator Florence Muller, the 300 handmade garments are an expression of passion by designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, and the artisans that transform their designs into artworks for human bodies.<\/p>\n
A mosaic-like embroidered jacket required the constant work of five artisans over seven months and is in the exhibition \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana\u201d now at ICA Miami through June. Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
The intricacy is overwhelming, and it\u2019s no wonder that some people returned again and again to a trio of previous showings in Milan, Paris and Rome. \u201cYou need hours to look at all the detail,\u201d explains Muller. The fashion house decided on Miami for its U.S. tour launch because of its multiculturalism and rich Latin roots, explains Muller; when the Miami show closes in June it will go on to a handful of other U.S. cities not yet announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the team \u2013 and Dominico in particular \u2013 the idea of launching in Miami really resonated,\u201d says Alex Gartenfeld, the ICA\u2019s artistic director. The availability of ICA\u2019s wing recently acquired from the now-closed de la Cruz Collection provided a generous, adaptable space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very enthusiastic about the exhibition and the level of detail. The connections between art and history are very clear.\u201d Audience response since the Feb. 5 opening has been very positive, according to Gartenfeld. The show runs through Sunday, June 14.<\/p>\n
Handmade Couture at Its Finest<\/p>\n
Each garment was crafted by hand as part of Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s Alta Moda (haute couture) collections for women, men and jewelry: a floor-length jacket embossed with elaborate silk appliqu\u00e9s of cherubs, petals and twining leaves; a dress trimmed in folkloric patterns dotted with sequins over a petticoat inspired by tablecloths crafted in Puglia; a gentleman\u2019s cape painstakingly embroidered with an elaborate scene of Venice\u2019s Grand Canal; religious vestments glittering with sequins; lacy wedding dresses conveying the ethereal nature of union; and eight-inch-high platform sandals encrusted with jewels.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnatomy of Tailoring\u201d goes deep inside the craft of Dolce&Gabbana. Foto Greg Kessler \/ Cortes\u00eda Dolce&Gabbana (Photo by Greg Kessler, courtesy of Dolce&Gabbana) <\/p>\n
For Miami fashionistas and aficionados, the show is a coup. Close inspection of Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s one-of-a-kind pieces is normally reserved for a few hundred wealthy \u201ccollectors\u2019\u2019 invited to private presentations. In the exhibition foyer, videos offer a peek at dramatically staged showings at the Roman Forum, in Venice\u2019s Doge\u2019s Palace and Milan\u2019s La Scala. They provide context, explaining how each annual show is held in a different distinctive corner of the country, showcasing its traditions and craftsmen. The videos also testify to Italy\u2019s reverence for the design house, giving it access to palaces and monuments normally closed to commercial activity.<\/p>\n
Every detail is carefully curated in \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana,\u201d including a gentleman\u2019s silk shoes. Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
That reverence derives from Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s investment in promoting and preserving Italy\u2019s culture and artisanal traditions. Unlike some legendary designer brands \u2013 think Valentino, Dior, St. Laurent \u2013 that began as couture workshops for the discerning and wealthy, Dolce & Gabbana launched in 1985 as a ready-to-wear brand focused on distinctly feminine styling before expanding into menswear, beachwear, perfumes, makeup.<\/p>\n
The Rise of a Global Fashion Powerhouse<\/p>\n
Madonna picked up the mantle \u2014 or in this case, a gemstone-studded bustier\u2014 collaborating with the firm for her Girlie Show world tour. Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and the late Whitney Houston soon followed.<\/p>\n
In 2011 the firm closed its D&G brand aimed at younger consumers to add Alta Moda collections of hand-made garments that support in-house studios and a school for training future generations. The first Alta Moda collection was shown in 2012 in Taormina, Sicily.<\/p>\n
An installation showcasing D&G Alta Moda designs surrounded by paintings by Anh Duong marries historical tradition with contemporary culture in \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana,\u201d an exhibition at ICA Miami. Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
Like the video wall, the exhibition\u2019s first full installation is a preview of splendor to come. Mannequins dressed in appliqued gowns, brocade jackets, tunics of crocheted gold and an elaborately sequined floral dress are staggered on a mirrored stage beneath a mirrored ceiling.<\/p>\n
The 20-foot walls are hung salon-style with gilt frames surrounding oil paintings flirting at once with modernism and Renaissance styles. Most are self-portraits of the artist, Anh Duong, a model who was once synonymous with designer Christian Lacroix.<\/p>\n
There are other familiar faces here, most notably Naomi Campbell in a bold feathered gown that would wow even Cinderella. And just around the next corner appears the dress itself, with its giant organza skirt covered in feathers that, we\u2019re assured, are common and not endangered.<\/p>\n
The following dozen rooms and hallways are Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s homage to Italy\u2019s artisanal excellence. In one, cross-stitched gowns and sable-collared coats bear familiar depictions of madonnas by Botticelli and Raphael Titian\u2019s Bacchus, Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s \u201cUnknown Woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many garments honor Italy\u2019s Renaissance painters, including this gown bearing a scene from Raphael\u2019s \u201cMadonna in the Meadow.\u201d Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
Gold lace demurely veils a woman\u2019s face beneath a crown-like headpiece. Pearls and portraiture and pearls are combined in headdresses; a gentleman\u2019s glove is adorned with filigree and tourmalines. Around them all, cherubs and gods dance among the clouds in a wall projection of Carracci\u2019s \u201cTriumph of Bacchus and Ariadne.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each piece is one of a kind,\u201d says Muller, an art and fashion historian who spent three years working with the designers to create the exhibition. \u201cYou can feel the hours that go into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Immersive Set Design: Murano Glass, Baroque Stucco and Ancient Columns<\/p>\n
So are the sets that showcase the clothes. Decorative floors, delicate chandeliers \u2014 Murano, of course \u2014 and ancient columns from the designers\u2019 personal collection travel with the show. The result is a museum-quality immersion. Mannequins wearing garments inspired by Greek mythology appear amid a columned temple.<\/p>\n
The adjacent chamber is in glittering gold tiles and features designs that are themselves mosaics of jewels, silks, sequins and even mink. \u201c (One single coat depicting Biblical scenes of encrusted beads took five artisans a full seven months to complete.) The firm does not reveal the price of its couture.<\/p>\n
In the display dedicated to Sicily, the heels on a pair of shoes incorporate folkloric dolls in \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana.\u201d Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
Other rooms honor the Italian art of glass, with glass and Lucite-beaded garments in a maze of mirrors and delicate chandeliers, and baroque stucco, with jackets and dresses ingenuously appliqued with giant silk cherubs. There are nods to ancient Rome and a compelling enclave devoted to Sardian inspiration.<\/p>\n
Another exhibit honors Italian film, with the lens centered on the 1963 film \u201cThe Leopard\u201d featuring Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. Film clips play silently in windows throughout the room, and even without words guests can sense the tension between old aristocracy and the rising influence of the merchant class. In Italy, and in D&G\u2019s world, tradition and future are forever entwined in a delicate dance.<\/p>\n
The Sicilian room exudes joy, with bright tile floors, painted walls and even refrigerators adorned with folkloric scenes; all were made by Sicilian craftspeople, as was a wooden transport wagon that was used to bring guests to its 2017 fashion presentation in Palmero.<\/p>\n
In the display dedicated to Sicily, a whimsical purse is decorated with jeweled cannoli and other regional sweets in \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana.\u201d Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
A purse is decorated with cannoli and other sweets executed in ceramic sits beneath a glass vitrine; a second holds impossibly high shoes with heels made from ceramic folkloric dolls. Voluminous dresses decorated with heraldic symbols and folk scenes overflow their couches. \u201cYou can\u2019t help but smile,\u201d says a guard-host in the room. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to be in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devotion and Catholic Symbolism in Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s Designs<\/p>\n
Muller\u2019s favorite room, \u201cDevotion,\u201d is set behind a golden grill, gates open to a chapel centered by a gold sacred heart above an altar. Within, a woman with bowed head is draped in a long lace mantle elaborately appliqued with gold flowers and feathers; her attendees are clad in black and gold, their faces veiled in black. The explanation reads, \u201cA symbol of life and love, in this exhibition the heart reminds us that creativity cannot happen without a sense of giving oneself, fully, to artistic enterprise\u2026The sensation of overwhelming splendor \u2026 produces a form of mystic fervor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ecclesiastical themes throughout the show culminate in a series of men\u2019s tunics \u2013 a new addition to the show following Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s 2025 presentation processional on Rome\u2019s Aelian Bridge. A canonical-style coat is encrusted with beads, a cardinal\u2019s cape shot with silver threads. A mitred-bishop figure glows with jewels, gold and pearls.<\/p>\n
In the display dedicated to Sicily, a whimsical purse is decorated with jeweled cannoli and other regional sweets in \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana.\u201d Foto \/ Jane Wooldridge (Photo by Jane Wooldridge) <\/p>\n
The question is inevitable: How does the Catholic Church view these overt references? In a conversation hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Miami in conjunction with the Miami opening, Monsignor Alberto Rocca of Milan\u2019s Pinocoteca Ambrosiano, applauded D&G\u2019s use of the Catholic symbols so integral to Italian culture. \u201cThey are meant to inspire admiration and devotion. There is no sign of mockery but a sense of belief. (D&G\u2019s presentations) are never vulgar or blasphemous. When you are astonished by the beauty, you have a spiritual experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the exhibition winds to a close, you finally get a glimpse behind the glory. Unadorned corsets, half-tailored jackets and sketches of gowns to come are set in a recreation of D&G\u2019s atelier, complete with antique furniture from one of its actual workshops. There are cabinets filled with buttons, trays of trimmings, bolts of old fabric rescued from defunct fashion houses. Tailor\u2019s dummies are shaped with extra padding in just the same places as a well-fed patron. Such one-of-a-kind works take dedication not just by the designers but by an entire team, putting to rest the question of whether fashion is art.<\/p>\n
The finale of the exhibition is Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s tribute to the grand pageant that is Italian opera. Foto Greg Kessler \/ Cortes\u00eda Dolce&Gabbana (Photo by Greg Kessler, courtesy of Dolce&Gabbana) <\/p>\n
The finale is, fittingly, D&G\u2019s tribute to Puccini and Verdi and the grand pageant that is Italian opera. Arias sweep silk and jeweled capes dedicated to \u201cTurandot,\u201d \u201cAida,\u201d \u201cMadama Butterfly\u201d and gowns inspired by heroines, kings and princesses stolen into captivity.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the opera, the ending is inevitably heartbreak and death. But in Dolce&Gabbana\u2019s hands, the tale is transformed from tragedy to triumph. So may all stories end.<\/p>\n
If you go:<\/p>\n
WHAT: \u201cFrom the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana\u201d<\/p>\n
WHERE: Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA)-Miami, 61 NE 41st St., Miami<\/p>\n
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sunday to Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
COST: $26-$28<\/p>\n
INFORMATION: 305-901-5272 and miami.dolcegabbanaexhibition.com\/<\/p>\n
ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been called a love letter to Italy and a grand tour through the nation\u2019s history and culture.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[79003,79000,79002,225,227,226,79001,9722],"class_list":{"0":"post-166000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-alta-moda","9":"tag-dolcegabbana-exhibition","10":"tag-from-the-heart-to-the-hands","11":"tag-hialeah","12":"tag-hialeah-headlines","13":"tag-hialeah-news","14":"tag-ica-miami","15":"tag-miami-design-district"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}