As per tradition the opera season at Milan's La Scala opens today. The event was anticipated by Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda show yesterday.
Inspired by 12 operas - Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, La Traviata, Attila, Rigoletto and Don Carlo, Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Norma, Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, and Gioacchino Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia - the collection was an extravagant and grand reinterpretation of D&G's A/W 2009 ready-to-wear collection, recombined with the Alta Moda A/W 2016 collection and punctuated by designs inspired by religion and in particular by the Te Deum scene in Tosca.
Most gowns were Haute Couture versions of opera costumes such as Caramba's or evoked Umberto Brunelleschi's sketches (the gowns "inspired" by Turandot were literal interpretations of Brunelleschi's). The show was also accompanied by a Haute Joaillerie display by Dolce & Gabbana in the Galleria del Tiepolo at Palazzo Clerici, near La Scala.
As stated above, this is not the first time the Italian design duo turned to opera for "inspiration": previous collections also included gowns and handbags with historical illustrations based on original libretti of Puccini's operas licensed from the Archivio Storico Ricordi (this rich archive can lend some great inspirations since it contains documents and artifacts from 200 years of Italian opera history, almost 8,000 original scores from more than 600 operas, 6,000 historical photographs and numerous costume drawings).
The runway was actually criticised for taking place at La Scala less than 24 hours before the premiere of Puccini's Tosca, which meant most spaces inside the theatre were off-limits to allow the show to take place.
As D&G were too focused on creating over the top costumes, they forgot about designing something luxurious but less grand and more practical. Inspiration in this case may have come by the off stage wardrobe of Maria Callas.
The soprano was turned into an icon of style by Italian designer Elvira Leonardi Bouyeure, better known as Biki who dressed Maria Callas for 25 years (and who taught her how to accessorise her ensembles with gloves, hats and scarves).
Biki had a very special connection with opera: her grandfather was indeed Giacomo Puccini. Her surname was suggested to her by Gabriele D'Annunzio, and adapted from the nickname "Bicchi" derived from "birichina" (cheeky, naughty), given to her by her grandfather. The opera season at Milan's La Scala opens later on today with Puccini's Tosca, so stay tuned to learn more about its costumes.
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