Sicily is one of Earth’s greatest natural museums. As the largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily has been conquered several times throughout its history, and with each conquering nation coming and going, fragments of cultures remain and coexist. From Doric-style Greek temples to Byzantine mosaics, surrounded by the beautiful blue seas of the Mediterranean, Sicily serves as a work of art on its own.

This was the creative inspiration for Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s brand: maximalism for the sake of necessity. Perhaps the only way to properly encapsulate a culture so dense and rich is to populate a collection with as much detail and ornamentation as possible, and with their newly released SS27 Menswear collection, Vacanze Siciliane, they put that technique into action.

As the brand described Sicily in a press release, the island has a “layered identity.” To peel back this identity, Dolce & Gabbana looked at each of the varying elements of Sicilian culture, from the remote seaside villages to the Cathedral of Palermo, and reflected all of Sicily’s layers in their collection.

The fabrication utilized evokes coastal living, with light cottons, crochet knitwear, and woven suede serving the overall dual function of the collection: temperate functionality and seaside style. The collection features silk swimwear, crochet pieces, chevron striped knits and tailored jackets in linen, which pull inspiration from modern tourists who discovered Sicily during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Vacanze Siciliane, much like the history of Sicily, follows a storyline. It begins with nero Sicilia, an expression of the island’s early roots of tailoring and orientation around the most minute details. From there, the collection explores the traveller, coming to the island from abroad, discovering all the beauty the island has to offer, combining elements of travel by ship with luxurious leisure.

The show concludes with all white, calling attention to the vibrant pieces put forth throughout the narrative runway. The colors of the ocean, Churches, and flora are on display, celebrating the natural beauty of Sicily.