Love, love, love. What could be more typical to symbolise it than a heart?

Let’s look closer how Dolce and Gabbana used the heart motif in their window display.

Their Spring/Summer 2015 fashion campaign introduced embroidered heart motif, which then received more prominent exposure in brand’s window display.

Cultural heritage in Dolce Gabbana design and window display

Dolce and Gabbana reinvent their Sicilian catholic cultural heritage in their fashion and retail design. The Sacred heart campaign of 2015 was one of the examples inspired by the word of sacrum then transferred to the profanum of the fashion brand.

Dolce & Gabbana Ex Voto Window Display 2015, Oltre Frontiera Progetti

The main inspiration for the collection is the ex-voto devotion object. It was used in Catholic faith to thank the saint patron or the virgin Mary for the blessings they had been given. These objects usually were made of expensive materials like silver or gold and they were displayed in churches in cabinets against velvet material, usually purple.

See example from Milan, Italy below, but examples of these typical faithful manifestations of gratitude could be found in every church, especially the pilgrimage centers that gathered masses of believers.

In fact, Dolce and Gabbana’s fashion collection of 2015 and window display transferred the sacred heart object into popular culture. In short, once the symbol of God’s love and mercy now exists in a commercial and decorative context.

The window display of the hearts remained similar to the original form. Shiny gold or silver oversized hearts against purple textiles remain the core motif of this window design.