An en plein air exhibition between haute couture and visual memory: the photographic exhibition curated by Edoardo Dionea Cicconi inaugurates the Dolce&Gabbana Alta Moda 2025 Grand Tour. A hymn to the secret Italy of the 20th century and the eternal myth of the Dolce Vita
Rome reclaims its most elegant dream. From July 12 to 17, 2025, the legendary Via Veneto once again becomes a catwalk and a stage thanks to “SECRET DOLCE VITA,” the photographic exhibition inaugurating Dolce&Gabbana High Fashion Week. In a poetic dialogue between past and present, between hidden icons and new visions, the exhibition represents the cultural and emotional heart of the maison’s Roman Grand Tour.
More than just an exhibition, “Secret Dolce Vita” is a revelation: for the first time the SECRET ARCHIVE, a forgotten photographic treasure trove containing millions of unpublished negatives and glass plates, capable of restoring the most intimate, secret and authentic soul of twentieth-century Italy, is revealed to the public. Not the Rome of postcards, but the living, pulsating one, crowded with legendary characters and common faces, stolen glances and walked streets.
THE SUSPENDED TIME OF THE DOLCE VITA
Curated by visual artist Edoardo Dionea Cicconi, the exhibition unfolds in an open-air cinematic sequence, like a film coming to life among the trees and marbles of Via Veneto. It is an emotional and non-chronological journey that begins, ideally, with Federico Fellini, symbol and at the same time narrator of an era poised between myth and everyday life. The images, most of which have never been seen, do not follow historical logic, but that of feeling. Each shot speaks the language of atmosphere: evoking rather than describing. “This “urban film” is a lucid dream,” Cicconi says, “in which the city, unaware protagonist, lives its own splendor under the eyes of the world. Not just familiar faces and flashes, but authentic gestures, everyday instants that seem incredibly relevant to us today. To review these images is to reconstruct a dream: that of a past unaware of its own legend.”
FASHION, HISTORY AND VISION: THE CONTRIBUTION OF DOLCE&GABBANA
“Secret Dolce Vita” is not only an exhibition project, but also an act of love towards Rome. Wanted and supported by Dolce&Gabbana, in collaboration with Roma Capitale and theAssessorato ai Grandi Eventi, Sport, Turismo e Moda led by Alessandro Onorato, this event represents a fundamental piece of the impressive cultural operation that the maison has orchestrated to bring fashion back to the center of the Italian identity narrative.
“Rome is a place of the heart for us,” said Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. “Every glimpse of it, every stone tells a story. We wanted to celebrate the beauty, art, tradition and humanity of Italy in this city. And with this exhibition, we return a piece of collective memory to its natural audience.”
This is not just about aesthetics, but about cultural responsibility. Dolce&Gabbana champions the recovery of visual imagery and heritage that would otherwise risk oblivion. Fashion, in this vision, is not just dress or appearance, but narrative, document, prophecy. The collaboration with Cicconi and Roman institutions shows how couture can dialogue harmoniously with art and the archives, becoming a bridge between generations.
A VENETO STREET REDISCOVERED
A symbol par excellence of the Dolce Vita, Via Veneto is thus making a comeback. Its elegant curves, historic cafes, the echo of famous steps between paparazzi and international divas, now come alive with new stories. The images – which alternate intimate details and urban glimpses, poignant close-ups and collective views – stage a Rome that is layered, theatrical, sweet and raw at the same time.
“This event is a tribute to the beauty and evocative power of Rome, the world’s fashion and cultural capital,” commented Alessandro Onorato, alderman of reference. Thanks to the support of Dolce&Gabbana and the curatorial vision of Edoardo Dionea Cicconi, we return to the city a precious fragment of its soul.”
EXPERIENCE.
The exhibition will be open to the public from July 13 to 17, 2025, in conjunction with Dolce&Gabbana’s Alta Moda, Alta Sartoria and Alta Gioielleria celebrations. It is no coincidence that this visual experience fits right into the opening of the maison’s Roman Grand Tour: “Secret Dolce Vita” is the sensory, emotional, and cultural key to everything that follows.
In an age that tends to digitize all memory, this exhibition invites us to rediscover the value of matter, of analog photography, of slow time. Walking along Via Veneto, immersed in the images of a lost and rediscovered Rome, also means reappropriating a part of ourselves. Of our being Italian, spectators and protagonists of a beauty that never stops speaking to us.
“SECRET SWEET LIFE”
📍 Via Veneto, Rome
📅 Inauguration: July 12, 2025 (Alta Moda event)
📅 Opening to the public: July 13-17, 2025
🎨 Curated by Edoardo Dionea Cicconi
🧵 In collaboration with Dolce&Gabbana, Roma Capitale, Assessorato Grandi Eventi, Sport, Turismo e Moda
An appointment not to be missed for those who love fashion, art, history and the most secret Rome. Where every image is a caress to the past and an invitation to live the present in style.
