Dolce and Gabbana & the kardashians

By Shayda Vandyoussefi

11 / 7 / 2022

2022 marked multiple instances in which the relationship between the Kardashians and Dolce & Gabbana has gotten much closer. For Kim Kardashian’s birthday last month, she donned the same crystal Dolce & Gabbana bralette as seen on Aaliyah in her Try Again music video in 2000. Additionally, the 42-year-old wore a floor-length, white lace gown over black lingerie from Dolce & Gabbana’s wardrobe. In early October during Milan Fashion Week, Italian fashion designers, Domencio Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, showcased their Spring 2023 Vintage Archive Collection in collaboration with Kim Kardashian. With an assortment of 85 pieces from their archives between 1987 to 2007, the show contributed to the idea of how reusing vintage fashion is trending especially among those who love 90s and Y2K fashion. 

In May, Kourtney Kardashian married Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker in Portofino, Italy sponsored by none other than Dolce & Gabbana. Kourtney walked down the aisle in a lace and satin Dolce corset minidress inspired by 1960s Italian lingerie. Her hand embroidered, sweeping veil had the face of Virgin Mary on it, flowers inspired by Portofino’s gardens, accompanied by the phrase “family loyalty respect,” which was based off of one of Barker’s tattoos. To round off the Dolce & Gabbana partnership, Kim Kardashian recycled a vintage dress from the Italian fashion designers with a black, lace gloved Veterments dress and a gold cross statement necklace for a more layered and ecclesiastical look. The fact that Kim posted about this on her Instagram story shows how in touch she attempts to be with vintage fashion and utilizes her relationship with Dolce & Gabbana to do so. In large part, this was a foreshadow to the aforementioned Spring 2023 Archive Collection collab with Dolce & Gabbana. However, it should be remembered that in 2018, Stefano Gabbana left a comment under an Instagram picture of Kris, Kendall, Kylie, and Kim on @kkwcloset saying, “The most cheap people in the world.” In addition, in 2019, Kim Kardashian deleted a story she posted of gifts that she received from D & G after the Italian fashion designers’ remarks about how they opposed the idea of gay couples having children in 2015 were brought to light. 

But, this was not the first time that Dolce & Gabbana have faced backlash from their racist, homophobic, and misogynist behavior. In 2012, the brand had white models on the runway wearing earrings that were reminiscent of Blackamoor statues, objects that are rooted in racism, slavery, and colonialism. Their justification was that they were inspired by “Moorish figures,” which is not an excuse for the blatant racism behind the earrings. In 2016, a shoe called the “Slave Sandal” that retailed for $2,000 was also released on the D & G website. Although some claimed that if you scrolled down to the sandal’s description on the website, the sandal was actually called “Bianca,” and the word “slave” was not included on other retailers’ sites. Clearly, third party websites did not want to get the heat of having a “slave sandal” on their platforms. 

The two Italian fashion designers defended Melania Trump in 2017 by making “#BoycottDolce&Gabbana” T-shirts to mock Trump critics who were boycotting them since other brands distanced themselves from the Trump administration or flat out refused to dress Melania. Stefano Gabbana commented “She’s so ugly!!!” on an Instagram collage of Selena Gomez’s red carpet style in 2018. Later that year, Dolce & Gabbana launched a racist ad that depicted an Asian model attempting to eat Italian dishes with chopsticks. The male voiceover commented “Is it too big for you?” when the woman failed to pick up a cannoli with the chopsticks. The brand was forced to cancel a show they had in China due to the outrage over the racist stereotypes in the ad. The list goes on and on and although the two have made apologies, it does not change how they continue to engage in harmful content revolving around people of color. The honesty behind their apologies are questionable too. Even if the brand has gained popularity with Kim Kardashian rewearing their wardrobe, they should be held accountable for their actions. 

It is hard to wrap around why Kim remains by Dolce & Gabbana’s side especially when Gabbana made negative comments about the Kardashian family in 2018. After all, with the large platform Kim has, she could collaborate with other brands who actively promote diversity and inclusion or she could be in touch with Armenian and other Middle Eastern fashion designers. This approach would allow her to showcase vintage fashion without collaborating with Dolce & Gabbana who have a racist and bigoted past.