It’s not every day that you board a jet almost fully staffed by models, make-up artists, and hair stylists, but that appears to be the case when Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana bring their opulent Alta Moda and Alta Sartoria presentations to AlUla in Saudi Arabia.
Alta Moda (for women) and Alta Sartorial (for men), the Italian design duo’s answer to haute couture, is the ultimate outpouring of their artistry, skill, and emotion into handmade, one-of-a-kind outfits. The couture show, titled the Ikmah Fashion Fashion Show, was invited by the Royal Commission for AlUla to participate in the Tantora Festival and featured 58 looks from the Dolce & Gabbana archives, which were brought to the kingdom from Italy, as well as a full atelier of tailors and seamstresses to attend to private fittings for clients in the following days.
The presentation began with a white gown of diaphanous silk, hand painted with golden rococo swirls over a big, swishing tulle skirt, as the sunset cast an orange glow over the surrounding sandstone cliffs of Jabil Ikmah, a Unesco World Heritage site noted for its ancient carvings. It set the tone for a celebration of an extraordinary world, where a single look takes months to create and price tags are rumored to run into the six figures. Light as air, but with a train trailing three meters behind, it set the tone for a celebration of an extraordinary world, where a single look takes months to create and price tags are rumored to run into the six figures.
A large gown with voluminous skirts, hand painted with violet blossoms, was also seen on the runway, followed by a fringed cape in dense blood red sequins, sprinkled with pink flowers. In the spotlights, an ethereal column dress floats in the spotlights, its bodice adorned in delicate feathers fully hand painted in gold. A lattice of beadwork fashioned into a face veil, a square necked full-skirted garment of beaded silver, and a thick cape, created to cocoon the body and combined with an ornate gold headdress were among the Renaissance-inspired outfits for ladies. The whole effect was enchanting, despite the cold of the AlUla winter, with the delicate hand work of the looks and headpieces glinting in the lights.