Is your next wedding a formal affair?
Grooms in search of impeccably tailored tuxes, brides hunting for the dress, and guests just looking to turn some heads might want to hightail it over to Miami’s Design District.
That’s where, earlier this month, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled a stunning new boutique. And when I say ‘Dolce & Gabbana,’ I mean Domenico & Stefano: The Italian fashion house’s founders jetted in for the ribbon cutting, as well as a full weekend of festivities that included cocktails with artist Romero Britto, a fashion show (natch!), and dinner for 120 at Design District visionary Craig Robins’ Miami Beach digs.
Believe it or not, the new store — just steps from Balenciaga on the pedestrian-only Paseo Ponti — is totally worthy of all the celebrazioni. Conceived by frequent D&G collaborator Gwenael Nicolas, the 5,400-square-foot boutique was inspired by Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the world’s most famous opera house, and the program calls for… major drama.
The soaring, two-story façade of rippling glass recalls a stage curtain. Behind it, interiors clad floor to ceiling in a lavish mix of polished and raw travertine and Veselve marble are connected by a winding, Minimalist, marble-slab staircase. Gilt-framed Baroque mirrors stand out against clean-lined racks, shelves, and vitrines, all crafted of walnut, glass, and polished steel.
But the real attention-getters here are the larger-than-life classical statues that hold court on the main sales floor: an assortment of stern busts, reclining nudes, and one Venus de Milo (shopping for a little sleeveless number, perhaps?), each pale figure a veritable cellphone-camera siren.
While the D&G store might not be as colorful as the Museum of Ice Cream’s Miami Beach pop-up over on Collins (extended, once again, through May 13), it should prove to be another prime selfie destination. So check it out, for Insta’s sake.
Nobody’s gonna force you to buy a pair of D&G slides, even if it would mean acing your next casual beach wedding — and every pool party this summer.
(Dolce & Gabbana, 148 NE 41st St, Miami)
