Dolce & Gabbana F/W 2012

For the 2012 Fall/ Winter collection, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana directed a focus to a romanticized baroque theme into their as always, high end fashion shows. The theme, dark, wicked and fantastical, tells the story of the clash between the past ad future woman. The woman is now modernized, bringing the new with the old. Opulence. We are seeing embroidery and precious lace, layers and layers of rich garments. If Lady Macbeth walked the catwalk in her days, or hosted an elegant wine party in her and Macbeth's castle, this what she would we wearing. The designs are impeccable. A new world has been introduced. Let's explore it!

What a dramatic entrance!

Notice everything. Take in every emotion and every vibe. I realized that while I was watching this, history was being rewritten. The past is not unfinished. It is not concrete. Nothing is concrete! As Rilke, my favorite poet of all time and my current spiritual leader (maybe emotional leader. He guides my thoughts) says, no feeling is final. The past is and forever will be continuous. The past is never finished. While looking at the garments, the see through (sheer?) lace dress a few pictures above, I was thinking about the difference between trash and high fashion, beginnings and ends and the old and the new. Here we are, looking at high end fashion, Dolce & Gabbana. These designers spend thousands and thousands of hours in order to make a statement. This statement, or statements, are their plea or pleas, their battle cry. As you know, I am obsessed with street fashion, combining the old with the new. I love rebellious, punk fashion. Soho, Brooklyn shit. You know. I love the leather and the bedazzlers and the fake pearls. I strongly support new, up and coming designers. For they are the ones with the new, open ideas. Or are they? Then I look at this beautiful model being captured by hundreds of photographers in a beautiful gown that represents much more than some expensive, Italian brand. To see this dress being displayed proudly by the exclusive brand solidifies my idea that the fashion world is changing, maturing. The world is becoming open and young and dare I say, hip? No longer will I or the other hipsters have to fight to prove that there is elegance within the ripped skinny jeans and cropped top or an own creation. "Garage glamour". This is what I mean by combining the new with the old. To be completely honest, I had no formed opinion or planned topic or theme to cover in this entry. I simply posted the pictures I selected and then began to write. I am sitting down on the couch, sipping on a warm earl gray tea and am listening to Florence & the Machine. And here I am, a true academic when it comes to the world of Fashion, and no matter how much I study or how much I write, I have doubts to as how much progress I have actually made. AM I a part of the fashion world? Do I have a seat at the dinner table, where Versace leather jackets and Burberry jackets are being served? I would like to think yes, but maybe no. Perhaps I will never know. This is what is good about Fashion. There are no questions, there are no answers. A good friend of mine, someone who I admire greatly, shared this quote with me this morning, by surprise. He sent me this quote via text message and I opened it while I was beginning writing this entry. 

“Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.”

The fact is that although I may never have all my questions about Fashion answered, they are always being asked. The questions themselves are the designs, the garments, the fabric, the lace, the dream, the hope. This collection, I have decided, was created to send a tidal wave throughout the oceans and lands of fashion. The world shook once the first model walked this catwalk. Dolce & Gabbana knew the rules and broke them. Stefano and Domenico and all of their designers, assistants and employees, knew that they were breaking the rules. They are fighting for the modern woman and man. They are examples to show that the past is undefined and that the future is open for change. They are shedding light onto the old and the new, paying respect to the fresh beginnings and bitter endings. For life itself is nothing but a cycle. These dresses, are more than just high class luxury. They are filthy glamour, street fashion. They are punk, rebellious dresses that were meticulously cut by mastered artisans. And this, this is why the world of Fashion is ours. Although we, yes me and you, may never sit front row at one of these events, we will still feel the shock of the tidal wave, the ripples of the disturbed ocean will still reach our feet. And to answer my own question, I do have a spot at the dinner table. And so do you.