A Grand Tour -Visiting the Dolce & Gabbana Exhibit in Milan & Paris

Last Updated on January 11, 2026 by spritzience

Visiting the Dolce & Gabbana Exhibit, “From the Heart to the Hands” on offer at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Italy through the end of July 2024, is an experience like none other. I’ve been lucky to visit many fashion exhibits in NYC and Paris. However, the D&G exhibit was an altogether different experience. It was inspirational in bringing together incredibly ornate clothes and the regions of Italy that inspired them. It also highlights local artisans. After visiting a couple rooms I and many others around me were holding back tears of emotion.

If you missed the exhibit in Italy, it’s now on tour and showing at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. You can visit the exhibition from January 10th through March 31st, 2025.

Florence Muller, a French fashion historian, curated the exhibit working closely with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. She created the exhibit using couture clothes that walked the runways from D&G’s Alta Moda, Alta Sartoria and Alta Gioielleria collections. This Dolce & Gabbana exhibit is like taking a grand tour of Italy in 10 rooms. You can see up close how different artisanal techniques are applied to striking 1 of a kind haute couture items. Come along with Spritzience to experience the grand tour for yourself.

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Room 1: Handmade, Inspired by Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, Italy

To enter the Dolce & Gabbana exhibit, you take the grand stair case up into the Palazzo Reale. It gives you a feel for how it would’ve been to enter the palace when it still was inhabited by the Royal Family. After scanning your ticket, you go behind velvet drapes to room 1. It’s filled with gilded frames, paintings and a mirrored ceiling to help reflect the details of the amazing clothing design.

Each dress & jacket shows details of what is to come. Different handcraft techniques are showcased from different Italian regions applied to the haute couture cloths of Dolce & Gabbana.

Ahn Duong Paintings

French born artist Ahn Duong created a series of self portraits from 2012 to 2024. They served as gallery walls within this room. Each portrait shows her wearing a different iconic piece from the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda and Alta Gioielleria collections.

Room 2: A Hall of Mirrors with Venetian Glass

A gentle noise of clanging crystal and shattering glass greats you upon entering this room. Look up to admire the many antique crystal chandeliers from the house of Barovier and Toso in Murano, Italy. The dresses on display here are made from ornate Murano crystal flowers and charms, intricately woven together.

If Cinderella were real, she would have her pick of fabulous Murano crystal shoes to choose from.

Room 3: A tribute to the Leopard

In the following room, Luchino Visconti’s ball room scene inspires the decor and the black dresses, where it feels like you’re stepping back onto a movie set from the 1963 filming of the movie The Leopard.

Room 4: The Sacred Heart

Intricate lace and 3 dimensional artisanal work decorate the dresses shown in a room inspired by the Sacred Heart.

Room 5: The D&G Sartoria

The next room in the Dolce & Gabbana exhibit is the sartoria room. It highlights different methods of the more than 120 people who work as artisanal ateliers to create the handmade clothes and items in the Alta Moda, Alta Sartoria and Alta Gioielleria collections of D&G. Some of these techniques include “collage” methodology, cross stitch embroidery and hand beading.

Room 6: Renaissance Rome

The clothes and shoes in this room are inspired by the paintings at the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. These paintings were reimagined as Renaissance paintings on clothes. A brief shout out to my friends at F.I.T. in NYC who were part of the Accessories Design Program. As I couldn’t help admiring the construction of the above shoes.

Room 7: Sicily

In the Sicily room, the experience comes to life with Sicilian music, and the help of 3 master artisans. Salvatore Sapienza, hand-painted the scenes on the processional cart in the center of the room. Next, you’ll notice the hand painted majolica tiles from the workshop of Ceramica Bevilacqua on both the floors and walls. The brothers Antonio and Guiseppe Bevilacqua make them by hand in their ceramic workshop.

Room 8: Inspired by Siracusa, Sicily

The 2022 Siracusa Collection comes to life in this room, with white and black baroque inspired outfits.

Room 9: Grand Mosaics

The detailing and artistry needed to recreate a mosaic effect on the clothes in this room is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The clothes on display in this room were part of the 2021-22 Alta Moda Collection, that was shown in Venice, and inspired by the Byzantine mosaics of St. Mark’s Basilica.

Plus it was great to admire up close a Mosaic with the Duomo using the famous tesserae blown at the Venetian glass house of Orsoni, where their furnace has been making glass since 1888.

Room 10: Inspired by La Scala, Milan

Opera music plays, and a grand table set with treats to eat after a night at the opera take center stage in this room. Surrounding the table, you’ll see countless figures wearing incredible opera inspired haute couture clothing.

Exit Room: The Madonnina

The last room of the Dolce & Gabbana exhibit is a tribute to the Madonnina. She sits 110 meters high atop the Duomo in Milan, Italy. As an homage to the city, the D&G team made a gown of macrame lace, with a filigree corset, crown and tulle veil. Filigree platform shoes from the 2013 Alta Moda collection complete the look.

PLanning A trip to Milan?

Start with my Milan Italy Travel Guide — it’s the overview page where I break down neighborhoods, logistics, and how to plan a trip that actually works.

When the temperatures drop and the city of Milan transforms into a winter wonderland, there’s no better time to explore its trendy cocktail bars, like Camparino – which helped make the spritz a household name. In this ultimate guide, we’ll take you on a journey to try the best cocktails in Milan. We’ll visit cocktail bars, where craft mixology meets stylish ambiance. From hidden speakeasies to design capital chic we’ll uncover the city’s most captivating spots to indulge in libations. Find out more in our post The Ultimate Winter Guide- The Best Cocktails in Milan.

Looking For More Cocktail Inspiration – You’ll Find It on Lake Como

I’ve often wondered- what makes for the best spritz aperitivo? Is it the bartender’s knowledge of mixology, the location where you’re enjoying the spritz, the aperitivo snacks that come with it to make it a spritz aperitivo? Or is it the company you’re with and the people watching? This was the day I was going to find out, in search of the Lake Como’s best spritz.

Wow I was off to a great start, as my train dropped me right on the shores of Lake Como, in the town of Como. In all of my Italian travels I haven’t seen a train station like this. The tracks just ended, with a small railing breaking the landscape between the tracks and the traffic roundabout. Looking about 30 feet to the left, the glistening waves rippled in the lake as ferries pulled up to the piers. Come along with Spritizience as we go on a Journey to the Best Spritz Aperitivo on Lake Como.