DD stands for Domenico Dolce; SG for Stefano Gabbana.

Related: China couture

Giorgio Armani and Jean Paul Gaultier have launched their haute couture lines in China. Stephane Rolland has also used Fan Bingbing in its haute couture collection. Will you use some Chinese elements or endorsements in your Alta Moda line?

DD: We usually don't make predictions like that, but we can say, almost certainly, yes. We love China, its culture and its traditions. In the past, we dedicated a collection to China (SS '97), because we've always been fascinated by it.

Within two years, the label has closed its sub-label D&G. Why? Is it because you are preparing for this higher-end line?

SG: To tell you the truth, we didn't close D&G. We decided to merge it into the world of Dolce &Gabbana in order to focus our creative energies in one brand only, inside which you'll find a lot of the elements that made the world of D&G and that in no way we want to lose. It's not only about D&G but also about finding the right place to create our atelier, the right tailors with the right know-how, design the whole process from an operative point of view. Designing an Alta Moda collection is a very different thing than creating a pret-a-porter one That's why the team that works on Alta Moda is a completely different one from the one that works on the pret-a-porter collection.

What happens if you two have some different opinions? Can you share with us some stories between you two while creating Alta Moda?

SG: Almost always! We both have two very strong and different personalities. I like certain things. He likes other things. There is no fixed rule, but we often start from opposite points of view ... Dolce &Gabbana, as well Dolce &Gabbana Alta Moda, is the union of two personalities, of two people that become one.

DD: But after all these years, we know each other very well, and, even when it seems that we are taking totally different paths, in the end, we always find a common point that represents both my vision and his.

China Daily