(Week3: 05/02/2009) Class Exercises

The first part is the Consumers' lifestyles & mass customization.

Classmate A: Her lifestyle is a causal and simple one. She wore a non-branded white T-shirt, a Uniqlo zipped-up jacket in red colour, a pair of slim-cut denim jeans, and a pair of white Converse shoes. And her favourite colour is red.

Classmate B: He is leading a dull and a bit boring lifestyle with study occupying all his time. He wore a red checked shirt of izzue, a black X-Large jacket, a pair of stone-washed blue jeans of 5cm, a pair of white 5cm sneaker, and carried a black backpack of Laosmiddle. He likes black, grey and white colours most.

Classmate C: She has a lifestyle of enthusiasm for sport. She wore a pair of glasses with bold eyeglass frame in black colour, a Uniqlo T-shirt in white colour, a pink zipped-up jacket of Nike, a pair of green jeans, and a pair of yellow shoes of Nike and she carried a big black bag. She likes colours which are bright and sharp.


The second part is the designing of a feedback form. I have designed 10 questions totally.

1. What color gives you a hot feeling?
2. What color gives you a cold feeling?
3. What color gives you a passionate feeling?
4. What color gives you a calm feeling?
5. What color gives you a dull feeling?
6. What color gives you a sexy feeling?
7. What color gives you a energetic feeling?
8. What color gives you a cheerful feeling?
9. What color gives you a sad feeling?
10. What color gives you a blurry feeling?

Sexy Goddess - Inspiration of Dolce&Gabbana

Not only do Dolce & Gabbana share a lot of the same influences upon their design career, they also admire numbers of the same idols. They have stated that one of their inspiration stemed from watching the old Italian movies of Italian actresses like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, whose voluptuous bodies are constrained by tight suits, stockings and suspenders.

Sophia Loren (born Sept 20, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning Italian actress. She is widely considered to be the most popular Italian actress of her time and is also famous for being a major international sex symbol.

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Gina Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927), is a Golden Globe Award-winning Italian actress and photojournalist. She was one of Italy's most prominent actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s and described as one of the first European sex symbols. Besides, she even got a nickname called The Most Beautiful Woman in the World (La Donna Piu Bella del Mondo).

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Analysis - Cultural impact on Dolce & Gabbana

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who are the founder of Dolce & Gabbana, were born and grew up in different parts of the Italian countryside. Domenico Dolce grew up in Sicily while Stefano Gabbana grew up in Milan. Although they come from different parts of Italy, they both claim their principal influence is the Mediterranean.

Their creative collection combines the inspirations from their own heritages, the mythology of old Italy, as well as the drama of cinema in Italy. Therefore, the styles they produce are a traditional ones mainly.

Besides, the use of unconventional fabrics can also account for their innovation. Some of their designs are well-known for the inclusion of leopard and other animal prints. Their bestial themes have projected a wildly dangerous aura onto women. Apart from this, adding sophistications to simple designs, such as complicated fastening systems, ruffled blouses, and lace is another famous creation of Dolce & Gabbana. Although Dolce and Gabbana obtain their design ideas from many different areas, they always insist the sensuality of the feminine form. Sometimes, it is shown in the mystical sensuality of a masked model who seems like Venus from the rustic Sicilian countryside. Basically, the elements of fantasy, magic, and sex dominate their ideas.

Video about D&G's clothings

Here is an interview with Stefano Gabbana. He talked about the clothing design of their brand. In the interview, he said that no matter the style, the design or the colours, Dolce&Gabbana's clothing are just like an art. They combined fashion and art together. And they would just picked the art for any particular season. In some people's eyes, Dolce&Gabbana's clothings are an expression of romance. And some think that all their designs are a matter of mood. Actually, these are what Dolce and Gabbana want to bring about: giving a feeling of fantasy.

From my point of view, it's the innovation spirit of Dolce and Gabbanna. They use their imagination and bring some other new for their collection. Therefore, we can see from their collection and find that although adding painting or creating new patterns or prints for their clothings does not dominate the whole collection, they do include this element in most of their collections. Seemingly, they try to maintain a balance between classical usage of colours and innovation.

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Dolce & Gabbana

BRAND Dolce & Gabbana is the Dream: a luxury brand that is distinguished by its stylistic originality combined with the superior sartorial content of its creations. The strong identity of the Dolce & Gabbana brand has evolved over the years while always remaining faithful to its inherent standards. An unmistakable style, the expression of unconventional luxury which, season after season, combines strong innovation with the powerful Mediterranean flavour of its origins. A brand whose essence lies in its contrasting features.
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