Big shocker, you guys, but Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana? They’re from Italy, and they’d like you to know more about it. In fact, Dolce & Gabbana has been telling you about it for seasons, often through extremely literal handbag embellishments and occasional pasta jewelry. For Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2013, we have actual mosaics in purse form.
The influences on this collection are actually both Sicilian and Byzantine, but the goal is clear – to make clothes, shoes and bags that are rich in Italian history and the Italianate aesthetic. If you appreciate literalism and are maybe a European history professor (or Anna Dello Russo), these art-based bags and clutches are probably just what the doctor ordered. If not, Dolce also offers almost starkly stripped-down versions of the bags, which look like a midcentury modern throwback without the tapestry and embellishment. This collection’s bags are a study in two extremes – moderates need not apply.
[Images via Vogue]