Dolce & Gabbana Bring Italian Splendour to Harrods with Festive Market and Groundbreaking Fashion Show

By Kristina Moskalenko

From Sicilian carts to couture on the food hall floor, the designers transform Knightsbridge into a celebration of style, indulgence, and la dolce vita.

The fourth floor of Harrods, London’s iconic temple of luxury. It is here that Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have conjured a lavish celebration of all that is quintessentially Italy. Unveiled well ahead of the holiday frenzy, their creation radiates an irresistible energy, set to sweep anyone within a hundred metres of Knightsbridge into a world of unabashed joy — a masterfully curated prelude to the festive season.

At the entrance to Harrods, visitors are greeted by a Dolce & Gabbana Christmas tree swathed in golden ribbons, accompanied by installations of multicoloured lights and folkloric motifs evoking the Italian tradition of illuminating towns in honour of their patron saints. The store’s windows, designed as oversized purple gift boxes, present vignettes of traditional Italian family life: hearty meals of guilt-free carbohydrates, maternal tenderness, and the unmistakable flair for passion, style, and the pleasures of the table.

These scenes are brought to life not only by mannequins—whose seasonal transformations at Harrods might well merit an Oscar—but also by intricate pupi puppets, including two large figures and more than twenty miniature replicas of Dolce and Gabbana themselves. In what Financial Times sources describe as a playful nod to Karl Lagerfeld’s legendary window figures, the designers reportedly spent around £7 million creating the installations.

On the fourth floor, however, Dolce & Gabbana have recreated a bustling Italian street market, complete with hand-painted Sicilian carts offering sweets, perfumes—such as Amber Skin, Amber Sun, and The One Eau de Toilette—watches, jewellery, and cosmetics from lines like Emotioneyes and Royal Parade. Among the brand’s less conventional collaborations is a partnership with Smeg, the Italian appliance maker, begun last year when the designers adorned coffee machines, toasters, and refrigerators with folkloric motifs inspired by traditional Italian tales. A mixer or kettle in this kaleidoscopic palette is no mere kitchen accessory—it becomes the pièce de résistance of any culinary space.

To mark the opening of this celebration of life, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana themselves arrived in London to switch on the Christmas tree and oversee their own fashion show, staged within the store. Two aspects made the event particularly notable: it was the first fashion show ever held inside Harrods, and it took place in the food hall, among fresh fish, prime cuts, and lobsters. It made me think that perhaps designers are aware that scent is the sense most likely to linger in memory and mingling aromas of perfume and delicacies is intentional. The mix of fresh fish and perfumes will remain imprinted on guests long after the garments themselves had dissipated.

The show carried a striking title, The Sun in a London Night, evoking a ray of light cutting through the store’s gastronomic realm.

Models, in the conventional sense, were largely absent. Instead, the collection was presented by a kaleidoscope of young British aristocrats, children of rock stars, and Instagram-famous personalities. Among them were royal associates and Tatler favourites Lady Tatiana Mountbatten and Lady Kitty Spencer, Amber Le Bon, daughter of Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon, Lottie Moss, the younger sister of Kate Moss, and British diving star Tom Daley. Front-row seats were taken not only by journalists but also by curated “support squads” drawn from Britain’s golden youth. In many ways, the audience resembled the models more than the models themselves, a charming detail underscoring the relaxed British ethos: ladies in the audience wore higher heels and in many ways were more catwalk ready.

Intriguingly, the collection presented by the millennial cast revisited some of Dolce & Gabbana’s favourite decadent motifs: black lace and tops reminiscent of a young Madonna’s wardrobe, cascades of sequins, head-to-toe leopard prints, wide-buckled belts, boleros crafted from a variety of materials, gleaming fringe, and large, vivid roses in both embroidery and print. Each ensemble was completed with a tiara, a statement badge or a “QUEEN” buckle, sunglasses, or a dramatic floral wreath with multicoloured ribbons—a playful blend of Frida Kahlo and a Ukrainian-inspired ceremonial headdress. Sometimes all four elements were combined, for when joy and abundance strike, restraint is impossible. Among the collection’s new surprises was a puppy print, spotted on dresses worn by Suzy Menkes and Kylie Minogue.

Many of the items from the Italian market, including pieces from the ready-to-wear capsule, Harrods-exclusive sunglasses, and even Italian pasta from Pastificio Di Martino packaged by the designer duo, will be sold exclusively at Harrods from 2 November to 28 December.

Originally published in Russian FT and WSJ franchise Vedomosti, How to Spend It: https://www.vedomosti.ru/kp/journey/article/2017/11/07/740769-v-londone-poyavilas-vtoraya-italiya