In what feels like the 365th day of coronavirus lockdowns, after two months, certain places around the world are slowly beginning to reemerge. Several states and cities in the U.S. are inching closer to opening back up, as are capitals in Europe, but with great caution. Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus, began to loosen restrictions on businesses and citizens this Monday. But the world is facing an unknown future and a pandemic that is, unfortunately, far from over.
As such, Dolce & Gabbana is announcing a project to continue promoting creativity from home and helping to aid in the fight against COVID-19. Today, the Italian duo is launching #DGFattoInCasa, a series of workshops hosted on the brand’s Instagram account in which artisans will suggest creative projects for families and individuals to engage in from home. There is a fundraising component as well: Through #DGFattoInCasa, Dolce & Gabbana will be asking those who tune in to the workshops to donate to the Humanitas University in Rozzano, Italy, via the crowdfunding platform ForFunding by Intesa Sanpaolo Bank. The money will go toward research units working to find a vaccine for the virus.
Designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce have been supporting the university for some time now, and they felt strongly about getting behind the school again amid this global crisis, namely through Professor Alberto Mantovani, president of the Fondazione Humanitas per la Ricerca and professor emeritus of the university. “Facing a tragedy of such vast dimensions, every action may seem irrelevant but, thanks to Professor Mantovani, we understood that even a very small gesture can have an enormous meaning,” Gabbana told Vogue. “Supporting scientific research is a moral duty for us, and we hope that our contribution will help to play a role in solving this dramatic problem.”
Dolce and Gabbana see this project as an opportunity to promote craftsmanship in Italy. As Dolce notes, “The objective is to communicate our values, our DNA, our deepest roots, and the ‘Made in Italy’ concept. #DGFattoinCasa was born with the idea of rediscovering the importance of being at home, of working with your hands, of creating something with your own expertise no matter what it is, a cake, a crochet, a painting.” Gabbana adds that while quarantined, the designers have put a new value on bringing creativity and innovation into their homes. “During the lockdown, we learned to live at home in a different way, to value it and appreciate it more,” he says. “We have rediscovered our home as a place of work, art, study and, in the condition we’re facing, we will keep it, for a long time, at the center of our daily lives.”