Marketing fever pitch: Dolce & Gabbana host Kardashian wedding in Portofino

There was little surprise in what Kourtney Kardashian, the California-based reality persona taking Portofino by storm, was to wear on her big day. In a highly publicised wedding cum marketing campaign, the Kardashian-Jenner clan and entourage have been clothed in Italian fashion duo Dolce & Gabbana from arrival to departure.

From the cushions decorating the Riva speedboats, to the carefully choreographed village walks along the Italian Riviera, there were images of children eating ice cream in tow with their uber styled families, the look aimed for casual splendour yet every detail was unmistakably curated by Dolce & Gabbana.

Sponsoring a wedding appears to be the first time a luxury brand has had full creative input over dressing such a high profile celebrity family. From the bride’s white lace and satin gown and dramatic veil, to groom Travis Barker’s double-breasted jacket and tuxedo trousers and mother of the bride Kris Jenner’s pale pink feathered gown, each look was carefully executed and subsequently published on both the Italian fashion house’s Instagram as well as by those of the wedding party.

What lacked in intimacy for this event was rendered in maximum exposure. Even the wedding altar was Alta Moda Dolce & Gabbana, decorated with religious ornaments amongst a sea of brocade, gold, candelabras and red roses.

The wedding party as marketing assets

Dolce & Gabbana stated the house ‘hosted’ the event, while others alluded to an exclusive sponsorship deal. Photographed by Ellen Von Unwerth, one of the fashion industry’s most prolific photographers, there is little doubt as to the marketing assets the Kardashian-Jenner family provide when it comes to generating online media buzz.

Dolce & Gabbana have slowly returned to the public eye after a public relations fiasco in China late 2018, where an unfortunate marketing campaign was exacerbated by Stefano Gabbana's direct messages containing racist slurs, which were leaked on Instagram. The year prior the fashion house publicly commented in vitro pregnancies produced 'synthetic' babies. The company has since seen its co-founders take a back seat on social media, with the mouthpiece coming from its marketing teams instead.