Now I’m not trying to blow my own Italian trumpet here, well, maybe a bit. But the boys at Dolce and Gabbana have done it again with their new winter collection and just as important, their advertising. For a lot of their designs they are highly influenced by the beautiful Sicily and rightly so, with its luxurious churches and Byzantine beauty that can be seen pretty much everywhere. With their Winter 2014 collection the clothes are inspired by the Mosaic of Monreale and so, as expected,  it is very opulent, very detailed, and very Italian. Besides their clothes being blindingly stunning, their advertising is what gets me going. They always manage to capture Italian essence down to the finest details within clothing and body language. Not to mention using the lovely Bianca Balti and the iconic, Monica Bellucci. Looking at these images makes me want to grab a Vespa and go race down the first cobbled road I can find. Viva l’Italia.