Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana looked back to go forward in their Spring show. Much to the pleasure of the audience, the designers removed the runway and flooded the dark space they were showing in with light, a move that evoked something of the atmosphere of their joyous presentations of the nineties. As did the collection—a recapturing of the mannish tailoring and curvy Latin lingerie, see-through lace, café-curtain macramé dresses, and rose-patterned chintzes that were first put through their paces by the likes of Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell. This time, though, the clothes are aimed at a new generation, and the market is global—to which end, Dolce & Gabbana put two bloggers in the front row, who were tapping out their commentaries while the show was going on.

There was a South American angle this time—silk fringing on black lace dresses and spiffy suitings that might suggest the denizens of a tango bar. Really, though, the classic extremes of masculine and feminine illustrated here go back to Domenico Dolce's Sicilian childhood and all the things he saw and learned in a household that centered on his father's business as a tailor. Part of his culture is a Catholic, Southern Italian adoration of the female form—and he and Gabbana gave that full vent when they replaced their traditional finale of overblown ball gowns with a runway thronged with girls in corsets.