From Joan Didion and Céline to Joni Mitchell and Saint Laurent, the fashion industry has lately been showing some major love to women of all walks of life—and Sunday’s Dolce & Gabbana presentation was another step in the right direction. The Fall/Winter 2015 presentation at Milan Fashion Week featured babies (yes, babies on the runway!) and their mothers, in what was fashion’s ultimate homage to motherhood.
The collection, aptly titled, “Viva la Mamma,” featured an impressive nearly 90 looks, many of which were tributes to motherhood, with several dresses printed with children’s doodles or embroidered with the phrase “I love you mama” in several languages. The tribute to motherhood didn’t stop there, though. Many of the model moms walked the runway with babies in their arms, and Binaca Balti, a D&G muse, even walked the runway pregnant!
While this isn’t the first time that a pregnant model has walked the runway (remember Chanel’s pregnant bride at the F/W 2014 couture show?) this show was major for plenty of other reasons. Not only was it obviously SO adorable, but it focused on women outside of what the fashion industry typically spotlights (aka women who aren’t super tall, thin and young). The stereotype of motherhood when it comes to fashion is often that style tends to go by the wayside in exchange for practicality. However, the Dolce & Gabbana show highlighted that mothers don’t have to be stereotypically frumpy—and that it is in fact possible to be a super stylish and glamorous mom!
While this show was definitely a step in the right direction, it’s also worth noting that it also proves the fashion industry still has a ways to go in terms of featuring all women. Many critics were quick to point out that, while it was wonderful to see mothers featured and celebrated in the show, the Dolce & Gabbana runway still remained one of the least diverse runways of the season—a pattern many have been seeing with the house for some time now. Next season, it would be great to see if Dolce & Gabbana take this step in the right direction even further by featuring an even wider range of women on the catwalk!
Were you as obsessed with the adorable babies on the Dolce & Gabbana runway as we were, collegiettes?