Nothing succeeds like excess at Dolce & Gabbana’s Milan menswear show

Dolce & Gabbana leaned heavily into the art of theatrical misdirection on the second day of Milan fashion week as it aimed to draw attention away from its debt issues, catwalk controversies and management reshuffles. On the catwalk its signature “molto sexy” Italian aesthetic that comes served with a generous scoop of la dolce vita was in full swing. This was Euro summer on steroids. There were clingy muscle vests and micro shorts that made short shorts look modest while some models simply went topless. Jeans came ripped, shredded or smothered in sparkling jewels while T-shirts featured everything from giant prints of Sicilian lemons and ancient amphitheatres to a mosaic depiction of Christ. The SS27 show was its first menswear collection since its disastrous all-white casting earlier this year, which joined the brand’s long list of previous controversies. It also marked the brand’s first show since Stefano Gabbana stepped down as chair. The Dolce & Gabbana runway on Saturday. Photograph: Pietro D’Aprano/Getty Images Dolce & Gabbana menswear model. Photograph: Pietro D’Aprano/Getty Images Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana acknowledge the applause of the audience after their show at Milan fashion week on Saturday. Photograph: Pietro D’Aprano/Getty Images In March it was announced the designer had tendered his resignation last December as chair of the company he co-founded with his then partner Domenico Dolce in 1985. …