Dolce & Gabbana's tiara features 702 Swarovski crystals. Image credit: Dolce & Gabbana
Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana has sourced its inspiration for a Swarovski-enriched tiara from Mozart’s opera “The Marriage of Figaro.”
Dolce & Gabbana collaborated with Swarovski on the tiara, which will be worn by debutantes at the Vienna Opera Ball on Feb. 8, 2018. While Dolce & Gabbana is not a traditional jeweler, many maisons, such as LVMH-owned Chaumet, got their starts designing the tiaras and matching jewelry suites worn by the ruling upper class and members of Europe’s royal families (see story).
Tiara collaborations
The annual Vienna Opera Ball attracts approximately 5,000 visitors who party and dance into the early morning. The ball often attracts international celebrities from culture, business, politics, academia and sports, making it a key social event.
During the televised event opera singers, the Wiener Staatsoper orchestra and the Vienna State Ballet all perform. Also, the Vienna Opera Ball serves as the societal debut for 150 young men and women.
150 young women will wear the Dolce & Gabbana-designed Swarovski tiara on Feb. 8, 2018. Image credit: Dolce & Gabbana
For Dolce & Gabbana, the occasion will showcase its savoir-faire beyond fashion design as its Swarovski tiara graces the debutantes’ heads. Wearing snow-white gowns, the women, ages 17 to 24, must apply and audition for the opportunity to participate during the ball.
In a video produced to promote the tiara, a young woman wearing a black dress is shown creeping up a dark staircase, toward the laughs of another girl. As she slowly wanders the grand halls, she finds a tiara resting on velvet cushion.
Once placed on her head, the tiara transforms the girl from her black dress to a white ball-gown, sweeping her hair into an updo in a very Cinderella-esque manner. The girl dances and admires her tiara in the mirror above the fireplace, hung on the walls and in a dressing room.
The tri-fold mirror then creates multiples of the girl as they dance around the room. As one laughs, the viewer realizes it is the same woman who first heard the laughter.
The video ends with a curtsy and the screen fades to black. Text alerts the viewer that Swarovski is a proud sponsor of the Vienna Opera Ball 2018.
Dolce & Gabbana and Swarovski tiara
The women participating at Vienna Opera Ball 2018 will wear the Swarovski-embellished tiara designed by Dolce & Gabbana. Each tiara has 702 Swarovski crystals and six rose-colored enamel flowers as an accent.