“With Karoline and her work, it was love at first sight,” say Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in an email to Vogue Business. “Together with her we share the thought of authentic beauty, that doesn’t have a look at sizes and standards, but is an expression of a deep state of the soul. Her creations gently reveal the feminine shape: the cuts, the stretch fabrics, the main points that frame the body remind us how good it’s to be happy to wear what we wish and feel comfortable in.”

Dolce & Gabbana ranked ninth in Milan for size inclusivity in Vogue Business’s AW23 report, with 2.7 per cent plus-size looks, while Karoline Vitto ranked first in London and internationally with 100 per cent size-inclusive looks (75 per cent were mid-size and 25 per cent plus-size).

“London is an incredible fashion week, nevertheless it’s much smaller and it doesn’t attract [an international audience],” says Emma Davidson, fashion features director at Dazed, who has been tracking Vitto since she was on the Royal College of Art and wrote Vitto’s show notes during her time at Fashion East. “Milan is an even bigger stage, and the show will get much wider attention — especially with Dolce & Gabbana’s influence.”

The plus-size casting problem

The Milan show will include 25 to 30 looks, significantly larger than Vitto’s previous two shows, which presented 10 to 12 looks. To permit more body shapes to suit into each garment, Vitto is introducing special straps — which work like a bra strap — into lots of her garments. “[The adjustable straps] means we are able to have fewer sizes by way of SKUs but still the entire size range,” says Vitto. “We now have this pair of trousers that we’re joking is like The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, since it matches so many individuals.” Other items are made with a yarn that stretches quite a bit but in addition shrinks back to its original size, so it will probably be worn by models of varied sizes.

The adjustable elements make the fitting process as smooth as possible. “Because we’ve got more models, we’ve allocated them little families of body shape and kind,” says Vitto. “We’ve got some models that we all know have a smaller chest and wider hip for instance, or some which have an even bigger bust and narrow hips, so we’ve got three or 4 models in each category and we all know which set of samples works for every group.”