The duo turned private space into a public statement, combining three central Milan apartments into a triplex penthouse that mirrors the visual drama of their collections. Perched above the city with landscaped terraces, the house stitches together eighteenth- and nineteenth-century gilt furniture with contemporary canvases by Basquiat and Warhol, and presents their signature animal prints throughout, from zebra to leopard, even a sheared Persian lamb shag carpet.
The Story in Pictures
The apartment emerged after a two-and-a-half-year search and a renovation that took almost as long. Initially they acquired half of the fifth floor, then negotiated for the penthouse above and later obtained the remaining fifth-floor units until the three became one. "You instinctively know when you feel good in a place. You feel a connection," Gabbana says, recalling the moment they found the residence. "I don’t think the real estate agent thought we were serious," he adds.
Scale allowed the pair to stage their eclectic collecting habits. Rooms flow across levels rather than around a single central axis, incorporating two kitchens and dining areas so domestic life can unfold across the triplex. Dolce, who briefly studied architecture, worked with architect Claudio Nardi while Rodolpho Dordoni sourced antiques and artworks that range from Thirties modernism to baroque Sicilian pieces. "For me, the kitchen is the heart of the house," Dolce says, a sentiment Gabbana echoes as he ties the room to childhood rituals of homework and family conversation.
The terrace includes a pool lined with volcanic-rock tiles from Stromboli, and a deck that offers one of the few deliberately minimal spaces in the home. Their Milan apartment sits adjacent to their corporate headquarters, an eighteenth-century palazzo outfitted with padded crimson velvet on a sweeping staircase and a garden marquee used for shows. They also own Post Garage, a nightclub decorated in the animal prints that populate the apartment.
The triplex functions as an extension of the brand and the designers’ private lives, reflecting two complementary aesthetics: Dolce’s cool, linear sensibility and Gabbana’s exuberant, colorful folk taste. Their property portfolio already includes a black-and-white linear villa in Roquebrune and a riotously colored house on Stromboli, and the Milan apartment consolidates those influences under one roof.
