In a thematic spectrum ranging from sensual Animalia to the cyber-Sicilian, the Italian fashion house sent out looks connected by its longstanding vision to materialize the sensuality the female form evokes. Perhaps a precursor to this season’s endeavors, Dolce & Gabbana once again took to their past to deliver its Fall/Winter 2023 collection.

Keeping with last season’s color palette, the house upheld its obsession with white, scarlet, and, most cherished of all, black. It’s not just a color. A token of elegance and solemnity, Black is perhaps the most emblematic of the Sicilian way of life. Embracing the drama of the darkness, Dolce & Gabbana discards spring’s frivolity.

Layering a metallic bra—more closely resembling a shell—over sheer fabric in look 17, Dolce & Gabbana added a sheen of neo-futuristic edge to a material historically associated with vulnerability and sensuality. The latter example takes form in a jewel-encrusted gown topped off with a seemingly robotic corset, defying anatomy to cinch the waist in indestructible armor. By pairing a gown redolent of 80s party attire with a corset evocative of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, the design duo took a new approach to the glamour deeply embedded within its ethos.

Its futuristic edge did not cease with the season’s gowns as outerwear, too, took on a metallic tinge. Most captivating was a gold, floor-length coat with black fur bordering its collars and cuffs. Constantly in search of new ways to repurpose classic staples, the house merged the traditional fur-clad diva with the frisson of the space age mode through foiled metallics.

,