AS they gear up to launch their new D&G Fragrance Anthology Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce are in optimistic mood. In the midst of an unprecedented beauty industry sales slump their new fragrance collection, which features five non-gender specific scents rather than the traditional male and female offering, is predicted to generate as much as $400 million in retail sales in its first year of launch for the label.
Each of the collection’s five scents, which are named after tarot cards, will be represented by a different model – three of whom are as iconic as the brand itself. Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Eva Herzigova represent The Empress, The Moon and The Wheel of Fortune respectively and, to keep the focus on the scent, posed naked for the campaign photographs – taken by Mario Testino.
"We choose Claudia, Naomi and Eva for the iconic value they have in the minds of everybody," Dolce told WWD."They are icons," Gabbana added, "not just for young women but older women too. Sometimes they are better known than actresses. People need to create icons, to see people they recognize."
In times of global uncertainty it seems no surprise that the duo have turned to the dark arts for inspiration. Gabbana had his hand read by a gypsy when he was in his teens and the outcome was surprisingly accurate: "She told me I would become really famous," he revealed with a lingering smile.
The D&G Fragrance Anthology launches worldwide this autumn