The colourful, lavish and astonishing world of Dolce&Gabbana has been integral to the world of fashion and costume for decades. To this day, they continue to amaze us with every new collection.

The designers have envisioned an opulent walkway through the magnificent Palazzo Reale. What’s on display? The journey that each of their ideas takes, from being imagined in their hearts and minds to becoming a reality, thanks to their immensely talented team of artisans.

It’s an open love letter to Italian culture, a mesmerising walk through their most iconic oeuvres that highlight the very things that, from the very beginning, have been their muses: art, architecture, craftsmanship, cities and their regional topography, music, opera and ballet, popular traditions, theatre and the Dolce Vita.

You don’t have to be a fashion enthusiast to admire and appreciate the installations that, in pure Dolce&Gabbana style, present a carnival of colours, materials, mirrors, sequins and embroideries alongside their clothing and jewellery collections.

Palazzo Reale has paired this spectacle with an exhibition of their own entitled Tesori riflessi (Reflected Treasures), showcasing a collection of fine jewellery and design as a testament to how the mastery of past artisans inspires the great Italian designers of today.

Palazzo Reale

From € 13 to € 17

How to get there: By Metro, take the M1 (red) or M3 (yellow) line to Duomo

Anyone who has read Gulliver’s Travels has since tried to imagine what a world built by Lilliputians - tiny people about 6 inches tall - might look like: tiny houses, tiny dishes, tiny animals… in short, an entire world built for people the size of insects.

The Small is Beautiful exhibition at the Fabbrica del Vapore turns this fantasy into a reality with the largest international exhibition entirely dedicated to miniature art where everything is measured in fingertips.

Every component of the exhibition measures only a few millimetres but they each contain an extraordinary level of detail and complexity that can only be witnessed through a magnifying glass, which the visitors will be given upon arrival.

The exhibition showcases the works of 40 prominent miniature artists, including renowned names such as Vincent Bal and Danny Cortes.

Let yourself be amazed and get lost in miniature worlds composed of hobbit houses, beaches, ships, LEGO characters, food, tiny box scenes, castles and much, much more.

Fabbrica del Vapore

From € 5 to € 14

How to get there: By Metro, M5 (lilac) line to Monumentale or Cenisio. By tram, number 14, 12 or 10.

This summer, the PAC Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea proposes a poignant and playful exhibition showcasing the home-grown talents of Milano’s very own Liliana Moro. Since the 1980s, her art has found expression through a variety of mediums: words, sculpture, performance, sketches, collage and video.

In this exhibition, she has chosen to delve deep into a fundamental dimension of her work: sound. By focusing our attention on everyday stimuli and situations, Liliana invites us to find depth and meaning in what is often taken for granted.

PAC Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea

From € 4 to € 8

How to get there: By Metro, M1 (red) line to Palestro and M3 (yellow) line to Turati. By bus, number 61 and 94. By tram, number 1.

Pirelli HangarBicocca always pioneers the promotion of contemporary art. Their project Outside the Cube is dedicated to novel and expressive forms of Street Art.

Since 2016, the museum’s exterior walls have displayed the mural Efêmero by the art collective OSGEMEOS which depicts the silhouette of a subway car being climbed on by a boy. This is a tribute to the history of Pirelli HangarBicocca, a former train manufacturing factory.

The latest instalment of this project will be unveiled on July 3rd when artist eL Seed will cover the external facade of the Cube with a site-specific work of art, titled Waves Only Exist Because the Wind Blows, linked to the history and evolution of the space and the socio-political events in the surrounding area.

Pirelli HangarBicocca

Free entry

How to get there: By Metro, take the M5 (lilac) line to Ponale then the 51 bus (towards Cimiano M2) to via Chiese - HangarBicocca.

It’s very rare for street artists to become internationally famous but, in recent decades, the likes of Banksy have proven that it is possible. Similarly, the artist who created the iconic blue and red portrait used by Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign has also become a world-renowned figure. Shepard Fairey, who founded the brand OBEY, is one of the most influential street artists alive today.

The exhibition at Fabbrica del Vapore, OBEY: The Art of Shepard Fairey, running until October 27th, showcases his most famous works alongside numerous never-before-seen pieces carefully selected by the artist himself.

The exhibition route within the Cattedrale della Fabbrica del Vapore has been designed like a city: starting from a central square, five different paths branch out leading the viewer to discover the most representative themes of Fairey’s art.

The PROPAGANDA section expresses socio-political commitment and features HOPE, the work for Obama's electoral campaign. In the PEACE AND JUSTICE section, discover icons that have become symbols of hope and peace. Meanwhile, in the ENVIRONMENT section, through compositions with floral motifs, Fairey evokes the image of a delicate and fragile world that each of us is called upon to preserve.

MUSIC has been, and still is, a great source of inspiration for Obey, and here he pays homage to the provocative songs of the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, Public Enemy, Chuck D, Bob Marley and Joe Strummer. The final section, NEW WORKS, presents pieces like Swan Song and Icon Stencil with Flames Study, the latest evolution of the OBEY sticker that is born from a juxtaposition of psychedelic colours.

On the occasion of the exhibition, Shepard Fairey has gifted Milano his first stunning mural in Italy, located in the Gallaratese neighbourhood at 26 Via Adolfo Consolini, centred on the theme of PEACE.

Fabbrica del Vapore

From € 13,50 to € 17,50

How to get here: underground line M5 Lilac Monumentale or Cenisio stop; tram 10, 12, 14

Pino Pascali was an artist like no other: he only ever exhibited nine shows, including a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and he worked for only four years before a motorcycle accident claimed his life at the age of 32, in 1969. Nonetheless, his work became central to the history of Italian contemporary art.

He stood out at the forefront of the Italian Arte Povera movement by endeavouring to use common objects, materials and elements, and mould them following his imagination.

During the time that Andy Warhol was exhibiting Brillo detergent boxes, Pino Pascali created sculptures that were environments by using materials such as earth and water combined with construction materials like Eternit. With new consumer products and synthetic materials, he fashioned animals, traps and bridges. 

Essential to his work is not only what is made in the artist’s studio but the way that it’s presented to the public. The Fondazione Prada does this flawlessly, gathering more than fifty of his works of art from Italian and international museums, as well as private collections. His works are accompanied by images taken by great photographers such as Claudio Abate, Andrea Taverna and Ugo Mulas, which depict Pino Pascali next to (or even doing a somersault under) his sculptures.

His work has influenced many contemporary artists (so much so that he has been called "a Cattelan before Cattelan") and this exhibition is a unique opportunity to enter into, and be in awe of, the playful and surprising spirit of a pioneering artist.

Fondazione Prada

From € 7.50 to € 15

How to get there: By Metro, M3 (green) line to Lodi T.I.B.B. By tram, number 24. By bus, number 65.

Io sono un drago. The True Story of Alessandro Mendini extensive retrospective of the great architect, designer, artist and theorist’s work took inspiration from one of his most emblematic self-portraits in which he depicts himself as a mythological creature that is part poet, architect, designer, craftsman, manager, artist, graphic designer and even priest.

On display at Triennale Milano, you will find works of all different formats, materials and subjects that have been loaned from numerous private and public collections around the world. Expect an explosion of colour and creativity that spans almost all creative disciplines.

Exclusive to this exhibition, Philippe Starck, who shared creative and professional experiences with Mendini, pays tribute to the great master with What?, a site-specific installation in the Triennale’s Impluvium, conceived as an immersive insight into Mendini's brain.

Images and sounds of the artist’s voice, overlaid with recordings of his laughter, create a unique environment that playfully makes a spectacle of the eccentricity, creative fantasy and wit that, according to Starck, were integral parts of Mendini’s being.

To best convey his idea, Starck involved Soundwalk Collective, a collective of artists and musicians who boast collaborations with artists such as Jean-Luc Godard, Nan Goldin and Patti Smith.

Alessandro Mendini is here.

Triennale Milano

From € 7.50 to € 15. For visiting all exhibitions in Triennale Milano, a daily ticket is available (€ 25)

How to get there: By Metro M1 (red) and M2 (green) lines to Cadorna-Triennale. By tram, number 1, 10. By bus, number 85.

If our wonderful selection leaves you wanting more, just check out all the other exhibitions scheduled in Milano until the end of the year.