Celebrities swarmed Milan Fashion Week on the last big day of runway shows on Saturday (Sept. 21), sending crowds of adoring fans from venue to venue. Designers previewed mostly womenswear for next spring and summer.
Madonna sat in a front-row seat at Dolce & Gabbana, along with Naomi Campbell and Victoria De Angelis of Maneskin. Her bandmate, Maneskin frontman Damiano David, showed up at Diesel, one of the season’s hottest tickets, across town.
Madonna, attempting a semi-stealth entrance to Dolce & Gabbana, was draped in a black veil for a runway show referencing her ’90s style and celebrating the cone bra, which she debuted on tour in 1990.
Models in bleach-blonde wigs strutted in Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s signature corsets and fitted jackets, each featuring the aggressively feminine cone bra, in a collection that notes said “pays homage to an iconic and powerful female figure.”
Madonna wasn’t cited specifically, but the stars of the Milan designers and pop star have been aligned ever since they made costumes for her 1993 tour The Girlie Show. The tour promoted Madonna’s Erotica album, which launched alongside her taboo-breaking coffee table book Sex.
The collection, dubbed “Italian Beauty,” perfectly captured that moment in time. Cone bras peeked out of cropped jackets with a pencil skirt, garters swung from corsets and coats sculpted the body. Floral prints returned in a color scheme of black, nude, red and white. Oversized cross earrings accented the looks. Heels were unapologetically high.
After taking their bows, the designers walked down the runway to greet their guest of honor. Madonna, still covered by the Chantilly long lace veil fastened by a gold and crystal crown, stood to embrace them both.