Designers Of The Year: Dolce & Gabbana

Twenty seven years after they first displayed their work at Milano Collezioni New Talents, GQ's designers of the year Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are showing no sign of slowing down. This year alone the pair's Italian fashion house celebrated dressing the European champions Chelsea, the launch of their stunning luxury watches, Dolce's coffee table book of AC Milan portraits Campioni and a successful debut of the brand's latest fragrance The One Sport. However for us, two key moments stood out from the dynamic duo - their riotous Renaissance-inspired autumn/winter 2012 show held in January and the relaxed tailoring and real life Sicilian models of their spring/summer 2013 show in June. It only seemed right to present the always elegant pair with their first GQ Men Of The Year award. They say: "We are so thrilled to have been given this award," says Dolce, "and it will be only the second time we have ever appeared to accept such an honour. Usually we don't go because we are shy!"