S tefano Gabbana is an Italian fashion designer who, along with his former romantic and longtime business partner Domenico Dolce, co-founded the iconic luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. The pair met in the early 1980s and launched their first collection in 1985. Their brand quickly became famous for its opulent, sensual, and distinctly Sicilian-inspired aesthetic, celebrating Italian culture with a bold and often theatrical flair. Their designs, which include corsets, lingerie-as-outerwear, and sharply tailored suits, became favorites of celebrities and high-fashion consumers worldwide.

As one of the two creative forces behind the brand, Gabbana has been instrumental in shaping its powerful and often provocative identity. The pair have built their privately held company into a global luxury powerhouse with a wide range of products, including ready-to-wear, leather goods, fragrances, and a high-end couture line called Alta Moda. In recent years, Gabbana has become a controversial figure due to a series of inflammatory comments on social media and a major scandal in China that significantly damaged the brand's reputation there, but the company remains a highly profitable and influential force in fashion.