Dolce & Gabbana Say Ole!

"Latin, gorgeous, sexy - they stay true to themselves," said ageless, iconic supermodel Linda Evangelista, as the last shorts-wearing torero, with flowers in her hair and a symbolic gilded heart on her chest, marched off the runway into the arms of  Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

Dolce & Gabbana

What a love fest of the Latina spirit the duo put on to close the Milan Summer 2015 season! Everything from columns of black lace to corsets to bullfighter jackets added up to a sultry Carmen look, all accompanied ­by soaring operatic music.

"Amore!" "Love!" said Domenico backstage, as he fixed a barely-there skinny stretch of a black dress, and arranged another more romantic design smothered in carnations.

"Heart!" said Stefano, offering his word for a collection where sacred hearts were worn on the breast and in clusters across short dresses. Even more Spanish in spirit were ruffled polka-dot dresses with the D&G signature black brassiere on top.

The Spanish Influence For This Season

The duo knows just how to add another layer to their heritage pieces, and to update their Mediterranean spirit. This season, they channelled the Spanish influence on southern Italy and Sicily which goes back centuries.

But this show was no costume party. Even denim had a place: jeans encrusted with sparkle, but with a more sensual and modern cut than you would find on a rhinestone cowboy.

The game was one of memories of the past melding with the present: black widows with chiffon-covered hair but also with blood-red lacy, racy miniskirts. Or a noble operatic cape in scarlet brocade, like curtains at La Scala, were set against a skinny black pantsuit with a frilly white shirt.

The clothes themselves matter on the runway of course - especially to buyers - but a powerful show also has to be about atmosphere. It must be instantly identifiable as a brand offering. And who would not immediately recognise as D&G the bold patterns, the shapely bodysuits and intense decoration.

Just in case one of those black, sporty workout garments looked too plain, it was set off with a symbolic Spanish carnation in the hair and a transparent handbag in which stood a Dolce doll.

So it was "ole" to the D&G duo and "arrivederci" to Milan.