Dream in Stripes, Wake Up in Milan: Dolce & Gabbana’s Sleepwear Dream Hits the Streets of Milan

Stripes louder than the symphony. Boxers flashing out of waistband lines. Beethoven’s Fifth reworked for a runway. And just like that, Dolce & Gabbana threw the ultimate pajama party on Viale Piave—and made it fashion history.

Presented on the summer solstice, the SS26 menswear show was less about sleep and more about seduction. Stefano Gabbana said it best backstage: “Light, light, everything just light.” But don’t mistake lightness for simplicity. The show was decadence in disguise. A procession of crinkled suiting, low-slung trousers, silky robes, and faux-fur coats, all tiptoeing the line between Sunday lounging and seaside hedonism.

Forget the bedroom. These pajamas belong under disco balls, beside saltwater pools, or in the back of a convertible heading nowhere. Sky-blue shirts tucked into leather Bermuda shorts? Pinstriped PJ pants worn with gangster jackets and antique cameo brooches? The Dolce boys don’t just blur codes—they rewrite them with rhinestones.

By the time the final models stepped off the catwalk and onto the actual streets, the mood was fever-pitch. Thousands cheered as the pajama-clad army claimed Viale Piave like a catwalk conquest, beaded floral shimmer and all. Theo James and Lucien Laviscount watched front row; the real party, however, began when the runway hit pavement.

Dolce & Gabbana didn’t just show clothes—they staged a protest against the binary of formal vs. casual. Why not wear boxer shorts under a chalk-stripe suit? Why not treat a fuzzy duster like a crown?

Sleep is for the weak. These were built for Milan.