Fashion designer Domenico Dolce was born on August 13, 1958, in Sicily, Italy. He studied fashion design from a young age, designing and tailoring his first garment at the age of six. After graduating from the Italian fashion school, the Istituto Marangoni, he worked at a fashion designer's studio in Milan, where he met his future partner, Stefano Gabbana. In 1982, he co-founded a design studio with Gabbana, and in 1985 held a fashion show in Milan. The following year, he presented his first Dolce & Gabbana women's collection. Despite the limited financial resources, the show featured amateur models and handmade sets, but was well-received and attracted worldwide attention. He subsequently developed various lines, launching a men's collection in 1990 and his second line, D&G, in 1994. With designs that were more casual and youthful than Dolce & Gabbana, the brand offered men's and women's clothing, fragrances, watches, and more, but was discontinued in August 2012.

Madonna is known to be a fan of Dolce & Gabbana, and the brand designed over 1,500 costumes for the premiere of her 1990 film "In Bed with Madonna" and for her 1993 world tour "The Girlie Show." Since 2003, the brand has also frequently used soccer players as models for its men's collections, and a photo book of Lionel Messi, photographed by Dolce, was published in June.