The worst times can be the best if you think with positive energy.
Domenico Dolce
We built our fashion around three fundamental concepts: Sicily, tailoring, and tradition. Our dream is to create a style which is timeless, and to create clothes with such a strong personality that whoever sees them can instantly say without a shadow of a doubt: this is a Dolce & Gabbana.
Each of our collections is like a movie. We write the script, and this Sicilian woman who has traveled around the world plays the lead role.
I drink a lot. More or less 10 or 12 coffees a day, both typical Italian and espresso.
I hope the people remember Dolce & Gabbana for the sensuality, for the Mediterranean sense, for our honesty to the life.
I come from a small village in Sicily. For all Italian people, family is very important. We don't fight with our families.
This is the problem today. Men and women have switched places. The woman now acts more like the man.
I love art, in particular, paintings. I have, well, a lot.
I clear my wardrobe of anything I'm not wearing and give the clothes to charity.
I cook and wash, cook and wash. When I am done, the kitchen is like a mirror.
Some people accuse the new generation of being ignorant, maybe ignorant for the old generation, but it's a new language.
My mum was very conscious about fashion and my dad was born into the tailoring tradition, so fashion has always been my life, although now, really, I wear the same thing - just in different weights - light and heavy cashmere in winter and cotton in summer.
There are people who believe that a Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt is more stylish than a supermarket one, and there are people who believe the opposite. There is room for everyone.
When I was 16, I knew I was gay. I loved a lot. But I lived as a straight guy, because there are people in my town who don't understand my story. I never told. I never wanted to show what was inside my heart.
Do I make fashion mistakes? Yes, but I won't say what.
At the beginning of the career is important for a designer to present his most representative pieces.
If you open my wardrobe, it's very boring.
I want to dance. I want to live.
I'm a very curious person.
For all Italian people, family is very important. We don't fight with our families.
It is not necessary to be too avant-garde, because you risk not being understood.
You need to be ahead of the game just enough so that you can have what people want in the shops when they want it.
I'm obsessed with jackets.
Tarots tell different sides of the various personalities that exist in all of us. I find it fascinating how they combine names, images, and numbers. You don't need to be able to read them, or know their real meaning, to be charmed.
We have never considered our brand superior or inferior to any other one, and we have never spoken about our work in comparison to anyone else's. We are ourselves; we have never had the presumption to please everyone, but we believe in the utmost liberty to express oneself.
Our fashion is for everyone and, throughout the years, we have had the possibility of working with the world's most beautiful and charming women and men. There is no person in particular who we would like to work with that we haven't already worked with.
People say: 'Models are so young, they're so skinny.' But Mr. Balenciaga used models at 16, and that will never change. People say they are skinny, but there is a difference between skinny and sick. If someone is sick, they're sick. It's not because of fashion. If I have flu, I have flu; it's not because I work in fashion.
The fashion system has killed fashion.
My mum was very conscious about fashion, and my dad was born into the tailoring tradition, so fashion has always been my life, although now, really, I wear the same thing - just in different weights - light and heavy cashmere in winter and cotton in summer. And jeans.
As a teenager, I would wear Clarks, corduroy pants and striped shirts, and I loved it.
To me, the most emotional thing is to see regular people wearing our clothes. Yes, sometimes I see our clothes on somebody, and I think, 'No!', but you can't stop someone in the street and say, 'Please go home and change.'
My mind is never stopping. I think, if you stop, you die. Maybe it is a problem for me - I have to talk to myself and say, 'Please stop. Switch off.'
My morning routine is quite common: I have breakfast at home while reading the newspaper, I take a shower, get dressed, a spray of cologne, and I am ready to go!
I love to listen to pop all the time! I like to be updated on the new hits; I think it's important for what we do. Among my favorites of all time is, of course, Madonna. But I also love Kylie, our little princess; Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Justin Bieber. And I listen to Italian pop music like Tiziano Ferro.
We live the life, but in an honest way. Without compromise, without corruption. This I understand now is the big key to my power - the power of Dolce & Gabbana. It's not just the clothes. It's love for the people.
