Living la Vita Dolce & Gabbana

It took designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana 20 years to fashion a global luxury empire out of humble Sicilian roots. Now their names are synonymous with Italian style and sex appeal

“CIAO! CIAO!” It's lunchtime in Milan, Italy, when most Milanese traditionally settle into a nice plate of risotto. But inside the Dolce & Gabbana flagship store on Via della Spiga, the mood is frantic, with shoppers young and old slapping down credit cards for the label's signature $2,900 pin-striped pantsuits and $3,500 fur-trimmed coats. It seems there are not enough salespeople to handle the traffic, so Alberto Addis, the store's visual merchandiser, is lending a hand, greeting two women who have wandered past the acres of shiny black-glass walls and Murano-glass chandeliers into the leopard-print VIP room. They're in search of...

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