Messrs. Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana know how to put on a show, and the full sensory experience is nothing short of a glorious, Italianate-tinted assault on the senses. They were even one of the first to stage an in-person fashion show back in July, in the brief window where we could travel and mingle more freely, so committed are they to their interpretation of La Dolce Vita being experienced with the full gusto it’s meant to.

But times being what they are, they settled on a digital showcase for their autumn/winter 21 men’s fashion show; it being Dolce & Gabbana however, this was no 2D affair.

“In the past when we designed a collection, it was normal to go around doing research, travelling to big cities like London, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo,” said Domenico Dolce. “So instead we looked to what’s been going on at home, observing our social life through the internet, through social media”. This internet-first approach was underlined by the messaging that this collection was a collaboration with Farfetch, with exclusive pieces available on the site.

On a flickering screen filled with those familiar Zoom-like squares, a host of famous faces appeared as a backdrop, including actress Sofia Vergara, musician DJ Khaled, boxer Conor McGregor, and socialite Kitty Spencer amongst a host of Instagram influencers. The catwalk in the foreground soon filled with electrifying colour, gleaming metalics, high shine decoration and glam rock accents.

If the pandemic’s been a period to reset and take time out in sedatory loungewear, then Dolce & Gabbana’s plan for a hard reboot involves visually impactful, rip-up-the-rulebook clothes for men.

No matter how high octane, there’s always a solid thread of Italian classicism that runs through their men’s clothing in the plush jacquards, ornate embroidery, plush velvets and sprezzatura elegance, but this collection felt more futuristic Space Odyssey than traditional Sicilian sojourn.

There were the gleaming gold suits and cyber punk trousers and puffa jackets in futuristic silver, as well as hardware riddled across black jackets and suiting. Where once handsome, stately tailoring would form a substantial part of the collection - in Italian neorealism monochromes - this time the traditional tropes of heritage fabrics like pinstripe, herringbones and houndstooth were layered in panels on top of one other on suits or in harlequin patterns on a coat.

And while the brooding machismo of those rugged knits and strong-shoulder, sharply-cut suits was apparent, there was a new exploration of gender-fluidity - a first at Dolce & Gabbana, which errs towards the more defined roles of La Famiglia. Men in make-up, draped in decorative jewellery and carrying miniature bags in manicured hands appeared on the catwalk, bringing echoes of New Romanticism.

The designers said that mediums such as Tik Tok and Instagram - where 20-something non-binary make-up tutorial stars rub shoulders with the more classically handsome male models - influenced the collection. “Make-up, nail polish... there’s maximum freedom today, that’s what the new generation has taught us.”

The collection was also a proposal on what ‘dress-up’ will mean in a post-pandemic age; cropped, boxy jackets with glittering tops, instead of single-breasted suit jackets with shirts, or decorative brooches adorning knits. Furry slippers, according to the Dolce & Gabbana manifesto, will pervade - cheering news for those who’ve grown accustomed to more soft-fit options during lockdown. We’ll never go back to how life was before, so why return to the same wardrobe?

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