Dolce & Gabbana celebrates 20 years
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Milan, Italy (CNN) -- Dolce & Gabbana's flagship women's store in Milan is a monument to the label's 20-year success story.
It fills almost 1,000 square meters on the Italian fashion capital's exclusive Via della Spiga and it's where the D&G's most ardent -- and wealthiest -- clients come to do their shopping.
These days Stefano Galli is director of retail special events at the Milan store, handling the needs of its VIP visitors and celebrity customers.
Galli has been with the label virtually since its launch in 1985, when Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were still unknown young Italian designers.
"I was working for a different company and we were just looking around to discover new talent and find a new designer to put in our store," Galli recalled to CNN.
"We say this new name Dolce & Gabbana. It was only 20 pieces on a rack and they were completely unknown but it was love at first sight.
"The clothes had a magic power, every single piece had something personal to say, was expressing a lot of passion, a lot of love."
For their first few years together, it was passion alone that kept Dolce, now 47, and Gabbana, 43, together. They'd met in 1980 when they were both working as junior assistants in a Milan atelier. Success was hardly overnight.
"In the beginning nobody believed in us," Gabbana told CNN. "I remember the first and second collection we'd call customers, stores and magazines and they'd say 'Who? Dolce who?'"
"We tell young designers that you need to believe in what you've made. You put all your love and passion into it and if you are good your dream will come true."
That philosophy has carried the pair a long way. Their first few collections were well received, but it was a long time before they started making an impression in terms of sales.
Their big break came in 1993 when they designed costumes for Madonna's 1993 world tour, a collaboration that sealed their reputation as the label of choice for paparazzi-conscious rock stars and celebrities.
"They injected a much needed dose of youth and energy and sexiness in a young way into Italian fashion," Daily Telegraph fashion director Hilary Alexander told CNN.
"The Milanese look before they came onto the scene was fairly predictable, a lot of beige, and there wasn't really that kind of pumped up vibe you get from a D&G collection."
After 20 years as an independent label, financial worries are no longer a concern. In 2004, D&G's sales jumped 20 percent, taking net income to more than $144 million.
And despite the global reach of their label -- D&G has just opened a new store in China -- the designers insist they never think of sales or marketing when they create.
Their partnership may not extend to their personal life anymore, but they say they still share the same emotion and passion for their work as when they met.
"Everyday is like the first day," said Dolce. "Today everything is completely different. The company is so big and everything is so complicated. But I don't think about that when I sketch the clothes or when I fix a collection, otherwise you kill the clothes.
"If you start to believe in your own success and live like a successful person, you kill everything. The best success is the next success."
"We're never 100 percent satisfied with the end collection," Gabbana added. "We always find something that isn't perfect. We say all the time, 'Next season.'"
