Dolce & Gabbana's "Hello, Dali!"

By Suzy Menkes

MILAN: The kindest thing to say about Dolce & Gabbana's superficial tribute to the surrealists (by way of Jeff Koon) is that the design duo must have been too busy on their new line of makeup to take a clear look at this show of Mickey Mouse shoulders (as seen last season) and Elsa Schiaparelli references.

Then there was the heavy duty for Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of dressing the front-row stars: Kate Hudson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, the "Slumdog" star Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts; and the three supermodel blondes, Nadia Auermann, Eva Herzigova and Claudia Schiffer. Not to forget the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, who appeared as a print in a show that was almost all in black and white, with explosions of Schiaparelli's shocking pink.

This celebrity-packed show just did not work as presented - although out of the "Hello Dali!" context, suits with elongated skirts and the graphic black and white polka dots and squares might have looked larky.

Mauricio Miranda

Instead, weighed down with the circle sleeves and obvious accessories: a glove hat and lipstick cases on black suede shoes (but also spirited double-layer sunglasses) the clothes looked less than joyous. They evoked just that prewar period when the lights went out all over Europe and Schiaparelli's wacky style became instantly outmoded.

Anything from Dolce & Gabbana is always beautifully realized: the animal patterns as flocked velvet surfaces, the screen prints and the chubby furs that had style and class. But so many designers, not least Yves Saint Laurent, have been in this territory. And to bring out this show at this particular crisis moment seemed - well - surreal.

Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the International Herald Tribune.