Italian fashion designer duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have teamed up with Bacardi's vermouth brand Martini to launch their alcohol brand Martini Gold. The luxury drink is a sophisticated blend of bergamot from Calabria, Sicilian lemons and oranges, Spanish saffron, Ethiopian myrrh, Indian ginger and Indonesian cubeb and comes in a lavish gold bottle.

Meanwhile, the duo has shot an advertisement which is a tribute to Oscar-winning Italian director Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita. The ad has the designers sit at a table, singing and laughing with sexy Italian actress and long-time friend Monica Bellucci. Gabbana said that they didn't have to act; they just sat and laughed like school buddies.

Bellucci, who has modeled for Dolce & Gabbana, plays a stunning Italian star who walks the street to meet her friends. The ad has been directed by Swede Jonas Akerlund.

The bottle will be available in all supermarkets and has been priced between 22 euros ($28.04) and 25 euros. Gabbana said it's a mass product and it costs less than a perfume. The downturn, he said, has transformed shoppers' habits and the excesses of luxury are gone forever.

Privately owned Bermuda-based Bacardi, which owns the Martini vermouth brand, will produce and sell the drink.

Dolce & Gabbana