If there's one thing Dolce and Gabbana have learnt in the 25 years they've been working together, it's that no matter what the trend of the day is, follow your heart.
"If you work with your heart and - even - your blood, you'll come back to your style," says Domenico Dolce.
"Trends are for six months, style is forever," adds Stefano Gabbana winking at his play on Yves Saint Laurent's famous turn of phrase.
The designers have stuck to their look - which has been variously described as Sicilian-Milkmaid-Hits-The-Jackpot or a redefinition of the female form, depending on your point of view - literally through thick and thin.
"We remember when minimalismo came back in the Nineties," says Dolce.
"We're not minimalist! Zero!" barks Gabbana, as if anyone would dare to argue with a man for whom "voluptuous" is a design ethic.
"In this moment, it's better that you work serious, you stay quiet and continue to develop. Because fashion - today it's minimalismo, today it's maximlismo, tomorrow it's folk, tomorrow white, tomorrow black. Be serious. It's like food.
Italian food doesn't change every season. Italian food is Italian food.
"Maybe it's not your time. Wait! Maybe tomorrow it will come. Maybe it won't come. You stop the job," he laughs. "If you change style everyday, you don't have a style. When you have a difficult moment, be honest."
That honesty has sometimes meant that their designs were rubbing the fashion world up the wrong way. And then sometimes, like now, the two discover themselves having a fashion moment - and are completely bemused.
"This summer, the paint collection (pictured left), was a very strange collection for us," says Dolce, leaning in closely.
"Now I'm talking seriously. When we made this collection, we were working in a new way. For us it's beautiful, of course, but we don't expect this to be such a success."
"No!" yells Gabbana.
"When all the covers of all the world's magazines came in, we asked: ‘Why? Why?' Because we don't understand," says Dolce.
Stefano tries to pinpoint the reason behind the huge success of the spring-summer '08 collection, inspired by the art of Julian Schnabel.
"We know [it's beautiful], but we don't understand why it was such a big success. Why not two seasons ago? Why do people love it more? Is it because the world is romantic, because it's Dolce and Gabbana classic in a new way? Maybe. There are a lot of maybes."
"This is the life; it's like a lottery. This is very strange: When we want to sketch a trendy, cool collection, it's a disaster," says Dolce.
"So you think by your heart and you relax," advises Gabbana. "When you do something for a magazine, it's the worst."
"When you're free, it's the best," sighs Dolce.
Dolce and Gabbana, importantly, have won that creative freedom by having financial control over their mega-brand.
"We work all the time free. I think it's the best thing about Dolce and Gabbana, because we don't have an owner. We started alone, we stay alone. And we work honestly."
How do you find that key to a successful collection?
"Sometimes you get frustrated, because you want to sketch something. But the final question is: ‘Is this Dolce and Gabbana.' No? OK," says Dolce.
"Cancel," chimes in Gabbana.
"Sometimes it's beautiful, but no, it's not Dolce and Gabbana."
"It's change, but in the same style. It's the most difficult thing to do. And when you do something right, you cannot repeat it," reflects Gabbana.
Dolce agrees, signalling that with the painted collection, the duo has entered a new phase in their career.
"We don't want to commemorate. We want to discover a new way. At this time we are very happy in fashion because we are completely free after 20 years. Now we want to start to look like a young designer. Because life's not stopping."
Why D&G prefer dressing ‘experimental' musicians to ‘stiff' movie stars
Think of Dolce and Gabbana, and you'll think first of their dream women - Monica Bellucci; Gisele Bundchen, currently starring in the ads for the new scent, The One; Kylie Minogue and Madonna.
Dolce and Gabbana are known as much for dressing stars as for their wicked corset dresses. They open up about designing for celebrities.
Which celebrities do you like to dress?
Stefano Gabbana: We give clothes to everybody!
Domenico Dolce: For me, it's just one: Madonna
Gabbana: Always in a corset.
Dolce: She taught us a lot when we started the job with her. She's very professional, very precise.
Gabbana: It's nice when you have a personal relationship. This is the most important because you know the person.
Dolce: We have worked with her since the 1990s. From the first corset!
What about other musicians?
Gabbana: We have good relations with Kylie Minogue too.
Dolce: The music world is completely different from the movie world. The music world tries something new, experiments. The movies, it's like a stone. There's too much obsession about ‘people'.
Gabbana: It's very conservative.
Dolce: The movie world is very stiff. The music world is more interesting to us in fashion. The red carpet is all the same. It never changes. Not sexy, not transparent. Just baby colours, not too bright.
How did you come to work with Kylie?
Gabbana: We met Madonna in London when she launched her album Music. That's where she wore the famous "Kylie Minogue" t-shirt [made by D&G]. Kylie was there and so we started to do a lot of work with her - two tours [Showgirl and Homecoming] and a lot of videos.
Dolce: But she's very nice, she's a lady, very sweetie. One of the best people to work with. She's a sweetie!
What's it like designing a collection for a concert tour?
Gabbana: Every tour is different, from Mary J. Blige to Kylie to Madonna. Kylie gave us input, saying: "I love the corset and the nude colour," or "I wanna be like Liza Minnelli". She comes with pictures.
Dolce: Liza Minnelli! [laughs] Kylie tells us how many songs, how many times she'll change clothes...
Gabbana: When we make clothes for a tour, it's totally different. You [the audience] see the outfit from a different point of view. It's far away. You see the bottom, but in the back there's Velcro! It's difficult but I really enjoy it.
You'll be dressing someone for the upcoming Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala. Who?
Gabbana: It's always at the last minute. Maybe Scarlett Johansson.
So you don't design a dress specifically for someone?
Dolce: If we do a big job on one dress and then at the last minute she doesn't want it…
Gabbana: You never know, in the end she'll maybe break up with her boyfriend and want to change the colour of her dress. So we let them decide.
