Stefano Gabbana was reported to be leaving Dolce & Gabbana last month. But then, the story quickly changed to clarify he wasn’t ceasing his creative work for the house, he just “stepped down from management positions.” A former employee of the brand’s Mexico City stores wasn’t surprised. “Dolce was family run. It was a whole mess,” they said. In the 2010s, when this person was employed, “they changed our uniform four times.” One day, Gabbana decided the employees should wear lace, so suddenly, everyone in the stores had to wear a lace dress. The same was true for the look of the boutiques — if Gabbana decided he wanted velvet interiors, an email would come through and changes would have to be made.

Still, this person stayed there nearly ten years. Unlike the other major luxury brands they worked for, selling clothing wasn’t all that hard. “It was so impressive that ready-to-wear was 80 percent of the sales, and accessories was only 20 percent,” they said. Here, when sales lagged, the stores put on events for clients and their friends, keeping the Champagne flowing so they’d buy more. 

Such invitations kept clients coming back. “If you stop spending, they stop inviting you, and people want to be part of that private club,” this person said. 

In this installment of “Retail Confessions,” in which luxury sales associates talk about what selling high fashion to the world’s wealthiest shoppers is really like, we’re going inside Dolce, Mexico City — where in the summer, when the wives and kids went away, “it’s mistress time.”

What were the customers like?

We had everyone here in Mexico — the classic woman who wanted the dresses for weddings and cocktail parties. The first lady of Mexico at that time was our biggest client. We also had women coming in with drug money. 

How could you tell who was a drug dealer's girlfriend or wife? Did they look a certain way?

They had big boobs. They'd buy the tightest dress and heels. They wanted everything to have…