Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana cited the Spanish influence on Sicily between 1516 and 1713 as their starting point for the Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2015 collection. Not so long ago, they even staged that fairy tale on a grandiose scale in Capri. Spain provided the same passionate Mediterranean woman archetype, and this was embodied in the fighting spirit of bullfighting and flamenco.

As the designers pointed out in their studio, “The Spanish occupied Sicily for 300 years! There are so many shared things in our cultures—the music, the food, the decorated horsecarts!”

The silhouette and embellishment of a matador’s jacket inspired an entire passage of the collection. It is aired with rompers to bring it up to this decade. Embroidery and floral adorns the collection that took their stock sensibility and transposed it with a Spanish theme. The color palette centers around black, white and red for lots of lace dresses and carnation-covered ponchos, fringing swaying away; polka dot flamenco skirts and dresses; headscarves and carnations worn in hair slicked back into severe buns, Domenico’s mother’s favorite flowers.

Everywhere, silhouettes were femininely encased in either curve-enhancing (or revealing) get-ups. As always, their narrative is enriched by the superb work on fabrics and adornment, gilding any idea with the scintillating edge of fantasy. The collection is a straightforward story of leggy silhouettes, romantic full skirts, and ornate embellishment on simple shapes.