Lighting Design Helps Shape Dolce&Gabbana’s New Identity. Part 1 – A Cinematic Approach

.Dolce&Gabbana recently unveiled new boutiques in Venice, Monte Carlo, and New York. These locations exemplify the brand’s alternative path to retail design, which sees the singular, global identity of its outlets replaced by individual retail environments that are influenced by the historical and contemporary background of their respective cities. When it came to the lighting, designers relied on Rosco’s expertise on-camera, and on-stage as they specified our LED lighting solutions inside all three locations. Below, we’ll examine the boutiques in Venice and Monte Carlo and the cinematic lighting techniques found inside using our Silk^® LED Soft Lights.

Conceived by the Paris-based architecture firm Carbondale, the Dolce&Gabbana boutiques in Venice and Monaco each yield a distinctly different retail environment.

Dolce&Gabbana, Venice

The Venice store, located in the historic Palazzo Torres, draws inspiration from its rich Venetian heritage, while the store in Monte Carlo, located near the famous Casino de Monte Carlo, echoes the elegance, glamour and luxury associated with the city. Both locations spared no expense when it came to the customer experience inside the store. This included cinematic lighting fixtures from Rosco inside the dressing rooms to make their customers – and the Dolce&Gabbana couture they would be trying on – look their very best. Architectural lighting design firm, Mindseye, created a versatile lighting design that captured the spirit and beauty of each boutique. They noted that Dolce&Gabbana wanted “the world’s best lighting” for their changing rooms. In response, they mocked up a full-size changing room and began testing many different luminaire types and variations including different color temperatures, angles and positions.

Their goal was to find a lighting concept that would illuminate the customer’s face and the Dolce&Gabbana garments perfectly. Inspired by fashion photography, the designer’s at Mindseye realized the key part of their solution was a light fixture designed for cinematographers and they specified the Rosco Silk® 110 LED Soft Light to provide the lighting for the Dolce&Gabbana changing rooms inside both the Venice and the Monaco boutiques. Admir Jukanovic, Creative Director for Mindseye, said: “We’ve chosen Rosco’s Silk 110 fixture because of its big surface, which allowed an even light distribution and its dynamic white properties.”

Dolce&Gabbana, Venice

Developed to meet the requirements of the most discerning filmmakers, all Rosco Silk^® LED Soft Lights feature a broad color spectrum ranging from 2800K-6500K. This allowed the designers at Mindseye to select the color temperature they needed for each dressing room – including ultra-warm tones. The LEDs inside the Silk fixtures not only provide CRI values in the high 90's, they also feature high R9 values that ensure perfect color rendering for skin tones and the luxurious garments adorning them.

The compact, self-contained Silk 110 fixtures were installed inside custom, golden housings that were built by Battaglia to match the golden interior elements included in the design so that the light fixtures would fit into the aesthetic of both Venice and Monaco boutiques.

Dolce&Gabbana, Monaco

Mindseye also used a filmmaking technique to prevent light from spilling throughout the room. Rosco Silk 110 60º Egg Crate Louvers were mounted on the fixtures to make sure the light illuminated the customer and the garments, not bounce off the mirror and scatter all over the dressing room. The image above demonstrates the light-control capabilities of the Silk Egg Crate. Notice how the fixture on the right, which is aimed at the customer, is illuminated – but the mirror-reflection of the fixture on the left appears to be switched off. This is because the Silk Egg Crate isn’t allowing any light to spill out the side. All of the light is directed where the Mindseye designers want it – at the customer.

A close-up shot of the Silk 110, Egg Crate and custom gold enclosure inside Dolce&Gabbana Venice

Thanks to the soft, flattering light from the Silk 110, the designers were able to create “the world’s best lighting” that Dolce&Gabbana required for their changing rooms, enabling the brand’s fashion-forward customers to look their best, and feel confident to snap that perfect selfie.

To learn more about the fixtures that Mindseye used to create the cinematic lighting inside the Dolce&Gabbana changing rooms, please visit the Silk 110 product page on the Rosco website.

Coming up, we'll take a look at the Dolce&Gabbana boutique in New York City and the theatrical lighting techniques and fixtures that were a part of that store's aesthetic.

Photographs of Dolce&Gabbana dressing rooms: Antoine Huot