On July 14, Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana staged its Alta Sartoria 2025 show, transforming Rome’s historic Ponte Sant’Angelo – a bridge overlooking the Tiber River – into a scene of religious pageantry.
A sweeping ode to couture, craft and culture, the Alta Sartoria 2025 was nothing short of cinematic. Paying tribute to the rich heritage of Italy’s most iconic landmarks and age-old rituals, the show unfolded like a spiritual spectacle.
With classical music setting the tone, 40 Vatican bishops walked onto the bridge that connects the city of Rome and the Ponte Sant’Angelo, turning it into Dolce & Gabbana’s grand runway. The luxury brand called the fashion show, part of three days of showcases in the Eternal City, “an homage to clerical tailoring”, presenting creations inspired by ecclesiastical attire.
Dolce & Gabbana has long drawn inspiration from sacred Catholic imagery for their collections over the years. For Alta Sartoria 2025, the brand took cues from the rich design lexicon of priests’ vestments, reimagined with couture precision and reverence for tradition.
The visual language of devotion was expressed through pieces like double-breasted suits featuring bejewelled crosses, sheer white tunics embroidered with ecclesiastical motifs, and luxurious floor-length capes eminiscent of papal regalia.
Opulent embroidery, crystal embellishments, filigree crafted from gold bullion thread, and the repeated use of the cross as a symbolic motif underscored the brand’s flair for theatrical grandeur – a signature sensibility the legacy house has long mastered and continues to elevate with each Alta Sartoria showcase.
Image Courtesy: Dolce & Gabbana