Domenico Dolce was working in his father's clothing company and Stefano Gabbana was an art student when they first met and found that they shared the same aesthetic sensibilities and desire to start their own business. In 1985, their first collection was shown in Milan, and since then their hot-blooded, theatrical design — built on themes like screen sirens, Sicilian widows and a rosary of Catholic kitsch — have become one of the dominating forces in Italian fashion.

"We love the body of a woman. Coco Chanel was wrong when she said that men were unable to design for women. Women know too much about women and they transpose their needs onto women's clothes."