Last year, the luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana and premium appliance company, Smeg, got together to launch a collection of bespoke hand-painted fridges. Only a hundred were put into production with one-of-a-kind artwork by Sicilian painters.
As expected, the collection was a sellout, and there has been a clamour for a re-collaboration ever since. So this year, the two brands—that belong to two completely different sectors—have teamed up once again to combine different specialities and sensibilities. This time, they are offering a larger range of products that include toasters, hand mixers, kettles, blenders, citrus juicers and coffee machines. Each of these has been meticulously painted by local painters whose families have been engaged in this tradition for generations.
Combining both companies’ rich Italian heritage, the collection is aptly called ‘Sicily My Love’. The island, which is the home of Dolce & Gabbana, is the main inspiration here and the appliances are decorated with lemons, bold citrus fruits and delicate floral designs taken from the coasts and landscapes of southern Italy. The five main prints all embrace the Italian aesthetic and are then framed in triangular motifs called crocchi, a traditional Sicilian decoration.
Together with crocchi, the appliances are covered in delicate floral motifs and images of the enthralling Mount Etna, surrounded by ornamental friezes and decorative acanthus leaves. All these themes are intrinsically tied to Sicily and the aspects of the aesthetic of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.
Both the brands have paid high attention to detail as each product is lovingly finished off with the hand-painted emblem ‘Made in Italy’. But look closely, and you will notice that these Italian motifs also have a strong resemblance to Indian truck art—similar patterns, identical colours and the same bold, in-your-face approach.