"From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana."
Photo: Mark Blower
Dolce & Gabbana’s Exuberant Paris Debut Is Shaped with a Painterly Vision
Set at the Grand Palais, the exhibition is a study in luxury, elegance, and uniqueness with a touch of humor, irreverence, and tributes to la dolce vita, Sicilian traditions, and more
Artist Anh Duong inside Handmade. Photo: Say Who
With a commitment to excellence and Italian craftsmanship, the just-opened exhibition “From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana,” is the most beautiful love letter to Italy, Italian culture, and artists. Curated by world-renowned art and fashion curator Florence Muller at the Grand Palais in Paris, the exhibition brings together over 200 unique, couture creations by the fashion, luxury house Dolce & Gabbana. With 11 separate installations entitled Dream of Divinity to Devotion via White Baroque and the Opera, this entire exhibition is nothing short of spectacular and a true spectacle.
Each piece is a work of art in terms of design, materials, concept, and sheer beauty. Additionally, the design duo pay tribute to their love of art and the exhibition opens with a room called Handmade and hung floor to ceiling with 25 works by contemporary, French-born artist Anh Duong. The artist was given carte blanche by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, her long standing patrons and friends. Duong gave Galerie a private preview and shared how all of this came about.
Sicilian Traditions. Photo: Mark Blower
“I started as a model and I met Domenico and Stefano during one of their first fashion shows in Italy and during my first season in Milan,” Duong tells Galerie. “I was raised here in Paris but moved to New York and stayed and that’s where I started my painting career. Domenico and Stefano started to collect my work.”
Their relationship began over 35 years ago and speaks to this beautiful collaboration between the artist and the designers. At the time, Duong was modeling for greats like Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, and Dolce & Gabbana. All of the works in Handmade are based on the self portrait.
“I started painting my friends, but then myself,” explains Doung. “I realized I was reappropriating my own image and that I became my own muse! It was never about representing myself, but about using myself to express something that I hope the viewer will feel.”
Devotion. Photo: Mark Blower
The concept for this room came about organically and evolved naturally. “I always felt safe dressing up,” she says. “Even before they asked me, I was using their clothes and other designer’s clothes to inspire my portraits. I was inspired by the richness, the shapes, the colors, and the embroidery.”
The entire room took Duong about 6 years to create and then there was Covid and everything was delayed. The show was originally meant to open in Milan in 2020, and finally did open earlier this year at the Palazzo Reale.
White Baroque. Photo: Mark Blower
Over approximately 13,000 square feet, this exhibition is a study in luxury, elegance, and uniqueness with a touch of humor, irreverence and tributes to la dolce vita, Sicilian traditions, ornament, and the Visconti cult film, The Leopard. And perhaps the most surprising and unexpected, there is a room dedicated to the studio with a partial recreation of this center of creativity.
Go for the fashion but be prepared to stay for so much more.
The exhibition is on view at the Grand Palais in Paris until March 31, 2025
See more photos below:
Atelier's Ornaments and Volumes. Photo: Mark Blower
Opera. Photo: Mark Blower
Dream of Divinity. Photo: Mark Blower
Architecture and Artists. Photo: Mark Blower
Cover: "From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana."
Photo: Mark Blower
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