Dolce & Gabbana threw its Alta Moda show over the weekend in the city. Now, the Venice Film Festival begins on Wednesday, so it’s possible many of these celebs and stylists were already planning a trip to Italy and just added on an event. But I think that’s a fairly generous interpretation (somehow I doubt J.Lo had “Venice Film Festival” in Sharpie on her calendar). I know from Instagram that a LOT of stylists attended and gratefully thanked D&G for the trip, and dutifully featured the swag that awaited them in their hotel rooms, and whatnot. While perks are not unusual, it reminds me of my brief stint in journalism, and how we weren’t supposed to accept gifts so as to remain impartial. Do you think stylists should try to remain impartial, or is that simply not practical in the business of red-carpet fashion, when clients will have their favorites and relationships matter when it comes to requisitioning? Regardless, it all does speak to how much courting D&G is doing right now — “enticed” in the headline really means, I suspect, “paid” — and so it’s also likely many of the celebs were similarly lured. Well, let’s be honest, Jennifer Lopez may also have been attracted to the idea of dressing up like a paradoxical modern Renaissance queen. I suspect that in her own mind’s eye, she looks like this all the time. Nonetheless, whatever industry tarnish the D&G name briefly had appears to have been buffed away.
Many people ask why we don’t simply stop giving D&G attention. Others are annoyed that we keep talking about it when it seems like the celebs wearing it, or the stylists acquiring it, don’t care. My answer is: And a celebrity fashion blog can’t really turn a blind eye to celebrities in fashion, but the quickness of the backlash and the equal quickness of their surge back to the fore are both interesting pieces of fashion news. In short, pretending none of these clothes exist doesn’t seem like the right answer, but pretending the controversy never existed doesn’t feel right either. So. Onward we press.
