THINGS I LOVE vol.4

　

Last time (＃1) is a continuation.

It is a well-known story that Domenico Dolce's father was a tailor in Sicily, and his mother sold fabrics and clothing. I think the quality of the tailoring in DOLCE&GABBANA's men's collection is largely influenced by this background. They were also influenced by the style of workers such as Sicilian shepherds and fishermen, and the style of Palermo's nobility as depicted in the movie ``Wildcats'', and I think their unique style is the result of combining all of these with their own sensibilities.
The first time I went to see the Milan collection was in January 1992. Before I went to Milan, I made plans to go to Sicily with my girlfriend. As soon as we arrived at our hotel on a small hill in Palermo, we decided to head out to the center of town. As she passed by reception carrying a Fendi baguette, which was all the rage at the time, under her arm, a concierge stopped her and said, ``Everyone will be interested in that bag, so you should put it in the safe in your room and leave.'' In other words, he advised me to leave it behind because it would be snatched away. What's more, he said, ``I'm going home now after work, so I'll give you a ride to town.'' Normally, a concierge at a five-star hotel wouldn't suggest something like this to a guest. I think this is unique to Palermo. By the way, the concierge was stylish and fun.
When I arrived in town, I looked for a store that seemed to sell DOLCE & GABBANA. Google didn't exist like it does now, and of course it wasn't even in "Chikyu no Arukikata." It was naive of me to assume that it must be there because it's Dominican's hometown. Since the brand has only just released its collection, it seems natural that its first store will be in Milan. In the end, I did a lot of research and found only one store that carried them, but they didn't have the items I had in mind, but I wanted to make something my own, so I bought a jacket and a vest, thinking, ``Anything will do.''

After that, I moved to Milan and checked in with my girlfriend at Hotel Pierre. Unlike the last time I went on a poor trip to Italy with a male friend, I had fun just being with my girlfriend. However, the collection invitation that was supposed to have arrived at the hotel has not arrived. I hurriedly contacted PR in Japan, but since there was no email service like there is now, I had no choice but to call and keep in mind the time difference, which was extremely inconvenient. In the end, I didn't receive the invitation until the day of the show. I came to see the DOLCE&GABBANA show, but it was a waste of time.
I didn't want to go home dissatisfied, so I went to a small shop on Via Spiga in Milan. Now that I think about it, that store was the first DOLCE&GABBANA store (men's only). The store was filled with spring/summer collections that I had never seen before. It was my first time to see so many DOLCE&GABBANA and I was so excited!
There, an Italian guy who looked like Jean Reno, who had come to the store before me, was trying on new items one after another, like it was a fashion show. Thinking, ``What a guy!'', I took advantage of that opportunity and went to the only fitting room, trying on clothes that looked like Jean Reno one after another. There's nothing I can do to stop it.
We were the only two customers in the store. The store is small and it would be a problem if more customers came in. Stefano, the store manager, had locked the door and no new customers were allowed in. It was a glass-walled store, so customers were standing outside looking into the store. In Sicily, it's a loss. My desire for material things suddenly exploded as I wasn't able to go see the runway show that I had been looking forward to. I think the price at that store was about 1/3 of what you would buy in Japan. Unexpectedly, it turned into a public shopping situation with an audience, and I was fired up.
Meanwhile, there was a scramble for a jute jacket that looked like Jean Reno. When I saw him trying it on, I told him, ``I want it too,'' and Stefano told me, ``This is the only item we have in the store right now,'' and ``If you really want it, it will be delivered to the store tomorrow.'' I wanted it so badly that I couldn't resist it. I've never seen or worn clothes like this. However, if I don't get to Linate Airport by 11am the next day, I will miss my flight home. When I told Stefano that I wanted to pick it up before 10 o'clock, he said, "Okay. I'll bring it to the store before 10 o'clock." I jumped up and shouted "Grache!" Even the Jean Reno lookalike was laughing in amazement at my joy. The next day, when I arrived at the store around 9:30, Stefano arrived with two garment cases in his arms. What a kind person he was, and it warmed my heart. Stefano brought two clothes in different sizes. I tried both and chose size 48. Stefano made us a cup of Café Doppio and said, ``Have a nice trip.''

In the end, in Milan, I bought this jute jacket, a pure white linen jacket, an off-white stretch jacket, two vests, one stretch T-shirt, and one white and one black tank top. And I received a super cool catalog shot by Steven Meisel.

Continue reading in the next issue. The next episode will be the final episode of DOLCE&GABBANA.

■Tomoki Yuma (@stsukezane）
Born in Kyoto City in 1965. Started his career as an editor in the editorial department of Magazine House ``POPEYE''. Currently, in addition to planning and styling fashion pages for magazines, she also designs advertising costumes for artists and musicians. Before the coronavirus, he covered men's collections in Paris and Milan for over 35 years.

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