(Dal Cuore Alle Mani) From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana: (Dal Cuore Alle Mani) From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce & Gabbana, 7 April to 4 August 2024, Palazzo Reale Milano, Milan, Italy

The Palazzo Reale di Milano, or Royal Palace of Milan, sits meters away from the Duomo di Milano, Milan’s iconic and imposing gothic cathedral, and offered the perfect grandiose setting for Dolce & Gabbana’s exhibition Dal Cuore Alle Mani or ‘From the Heart to the Hands’. Curated by Florence Müller, the exhibition offered an in-depth representation of the creative journey of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, highlighting their inspirations and the tapestry of cultural narratives embedded in their couture collections, also known as Alta Moda (Haute Couture), Alta Sartoria (Haute couture for male clients) and Alta Gioielleria (Haute Jewelry) launched in 2012 (Phelps Citation2022). While the brand has been operating within the luxury ready-to-wear space since 1990 (Richdale Citation2010), Alta Moda was the brand’s response to Parisian haute couture, and has since been an opportunity to pay homage and highlight Italy’s culture, traditions, and craftsmanship (Dolce & Gabbana Citation2024a).

Organized by themes not chronology, the retrospective regrouped creations from a multitude of runways. The visitor journeyed through ten distinctive and cinematically staged spaces, enhanced by visual and sensory elements such as videos, music, and animations, which underpinned the immersive nature of the exhibit. The mise-en-scène and soundscape of each room was considered with minutiae. Artisanal techniques were showcased in the garments themselves and in the intricate décor serving as backdrop, each theme and room paying homage to a part of Italian heritage. Climbing the grand marble staircase to the first floor, the entrance sat behind a large floor-to-ceiling black velvet curtain, like entering a theater, true to Dolce & Gabbana’s maximalist esthetic (Dolce & Gabbana Citation2024a).