Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are the most successful design partnership in fashion history. Since they burst on to the scene in Milan in the eighties, their multi-million-dollar women's line, menswear, underwear, shoes jewellery and swimwear empire has become one of the dominating forces in Italian – and world – fashion. Every year, the opulent and dramatic presentations, in ever-more spectacular locations, of their successful 21st-century haute couture line Alta Moda are rapturously received by the fashion press.