Dolce & Gabbana's mission: let beauty speak Italian

Sicily, heat, beach.

A fascinating Monica Bellucci, hidden behind a white canvas, takes off her clothes to put on a swimsuit.

As she leaves, in an apparent slip, she drops her bra on the floor.

Everything happens in a few seconds, under the watchful eye of a young man who is hitting an octopus on the rocks before taking a bite.

Later, the actress is seen lying on a bed, already at night.

The man watches her from the window while he smells her bra.

The scene, in black and white and accompanied by the music of Ennio Morricone, closes with the image of

, the first fragrance for women launched by the high fashion brand.

Three decades after this historic advertisement, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, the world of essences is once again the protagonist of the

Italian, but with much more strength than before: the group has internalized its beauty business, with the creation of a new company, Dolce & Gabbana Beauty.

The company, with headquarters in Milan and a network of centers abroad -Miami, Singapore, Dubai, Paris and Madrid-, has assumed direct control of the production, distribution and sale of its beauty products after closing the contract for license he had with Shiseido.

At the moment, the focus is on perfumes and makeup, but the date to enter the skin care universe has already been set: 2025. All segments will have the same artistic direction, that of the group's founders, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

“We are the first Italian fashion brand to do beauty at home, especially in an unequivocal way.

Chanel and Dior have something similar, but they are not under the same artistic and strategic direction.

They are two totally separate worlds”, remarks Alfonso Dolce, managing director of Dolce & Gabbana and brother of the Sicilian stylist.

"As we have done with fashion, jewelry or home decoration, with this project we want to bring Italianity back to the world of beauty."

An Italianness that not only draws from the country's tradition, style or culture;

it also intends to value the

, relying on local companies and craftsmen who already work for Italian brands that, however, have ended up in foreign hands.

"It is a zero kilometer sustainability project," adds the manager during an interview at the headquarters of the new society, a former convent -part of the structure is still occupied by nuns- where the sacred and the profane merge, which has always characterized the creative vision of Dolce & Gabbana.

"Beauty speaks to a much broader consumer base than fashion," explains Gianluca Toniolo, Dolce & Gabbana Beauty's CEO Operational Manager.

It is a more accessible entry-level product with which new consumers, even younger ones, can get to know the brand, which also sells bags, jewelry or watches and which has launched into the world of home decoration for a year.

"It is not only a business decision, but also a strategic one, for Dolce & Gabbana to offer an expanded

."

And this adventure, precisely, could not be undertaken through a relationship with licensees, based on billing and not on brand building.

After a year of transition, Dolce & Gabbana Beauty began walking alone this past January.

It has a team of about 180 people, 110 in Italy and the rest abroad.

By March 2024, it plans to reach 300 workers.

The average age is 36 years, there are 25 nationalities and 18 languages ​​are spoken.

The company also already has production and distribution agreements signed;

It has entered into the capital of the Italian cosmetics company Intercos and in Spain, its second most important European market, it has created a

with Farlabo, controlled 70% by the Italian brand.

On the left, Gianluca Toniolo, operating CEO of the Dolce & Gabbana beauty subsidiary, and Alfonso Dolce, director of the parent company.

DARIO BOLOGNA

Despite this already highly articulated network, inherited from three decades of experience in the sector, Dolce recalls that the project is still in the "experimental" and "construction" phase.

The company's debut coincided with the launch of the feminine fragrance Q, starring alongside its masculine counterpart K (from

and

) of a new campaign.

“We did it in record time.

Normally, it takes 24 months between thinking and launching a fragrance like this.

We thought about it in November 2021 and launched it in January 2023," Toniolo points out.

“And in a complicated context”, adds Dolce, between the pandemic and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, two events that have triggered energy costs, fueled inflation and caused bottlenecks in supply chains.

"If we had waited two or three more months, we might not have made it."

The sanctions against Russia, as well as the closure of China due to the coronavirus, have taken their toll on the activity of countless companies.

In the case of Dolce & Gabbana, the blow has been more pronounced for fashion, although part of the Russian market has been saved thanks to a transfer of clients to Dubai.

"Our fiscal year ends on April 1 and it will close positively, despite the significant problem in the Russian market and also in the Asian one," says Dolce.

"Perhaps we see ourselves somewhat less penalized for having always believed in local markets: that the Italian buys in Italy, the French in France, the Spanish in Spain."

The managers do not reveal the financial objectives they have for the new project, which involves an investment of at least 400 million in the first three years, but they assure that the reception has been very good and expectations are high.

"This

is already starting from high levels, with a commercial value of around 1,200 million which, net of what is paid to the distributor, remains at around 500. This is the base from which we should start, but in these first two years our main goal is not to declare how much, but how”.

To conquer the Middle East and Asia

The goal is for everything to be contaminated by the same idea.

That all the firm's products speak the same language.

If the lemons of Sicily or the sea of ​​Capri are some of the icons of the Dolce & Gabbana garments, that same smell, sensation or emotion can be found again in a perfume or a lipstick.

In fashion stores there will be a large space dedicated to the beauty category, as is already the case in Milan, where nearly 30 square meters have been reserved for it.

"No one has that," says Toniolo, who explains that more than 100 markets are already controlled from the network abroad.

Distribution will be carried out through different channels: the most emblematic fashion stores, traditional beauty chains, department stores, online through its own page and, later, single-brand stores in the main countries.

“It is a relevant position taking.

When you open a boutique in London, Dubai or Paris, you are sending a message to the consumer also in terms of experience”.

The beauty and personal care industry suffered from the pandemic, but in 2021 it raised its head in almost every category, with colognes leading the way.

In Spain, it already exceeds 8,000 million, according to the National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics (Stanpa).

For Dolce & Gabbana, the US is the first market in terms of perfumes, and the Middle East is an increasingly important territory where the brand is very strong.

Makeup, where Spain is a strategic place, will have a new line in September, which will be completed in spring 2024

The skin care business, which according to McKinsey & Company will account for a quarter of the value of the beauty market by 2024, is, on the contrary, a totally new bet for Dolce & Gabbana.

The brand has decided to move away from the anti-aging message and focus on the benefits for the skin, such as hydration or the satin effect.

The bet, in this case, is Asia, where for a cultural reason the colonies have little success, except for the high-end ones.

“Asians perfume themselves for status.

We already have a line, Velvet, which we will relaunch at the end of this year and in 2025 we will have an even higher one”.

All of this, both managers insist, would not be possible without having internalized the beauty segment and being independent.

Despite having received several purchase offers, Dolce & Gabbana, together with Giorgio Armani, is one of the few Italian high fashion houses that has not fallen into foreign hands.

The vast majority, from Valentino to Gucci, have ended up controlled by huge foreign conglomerates like LVMH or Kering.

Is Italian high fashion in decline?

"No.

Perhaps it can be said that the creative directors who have created the fashion industry are no longer around”, answers Toniolo.

To which Dolce adds: "Our logic is to build values ​​and credibility in the experience we give consumers, and it cannot be done without independence."

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