Elton John Calls For Dolce & Gabbana Boycott

‘How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children. Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana.’ And so the hashtag began. These words from Elton John via his Instagram account were in response to a magazine interview with Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, whereupon the designers stated that children born through IVF were ‘synthetic’.

The article in Panorama expressed the designer duo’s opposition to adoption by same sex couples (many other elements in this piece have not been so globally magnified, like the fact that Stefano doesn’t even believe in marriage – gay or straight). Despite the fact that the fashion stalwarts are both gay and were a couple for 23 years until a split in 2005, and that Stefano had a year later approached a woman to be the mother of his child but struggled to pursue this idea, they expressed the following: ‘We oppose gay adoptions… The only family is the traditional one…. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.’

The importance of family is a Dolce and Gabbana mainstay when it comes to both their collections and campaigns. Most recently the autumn/winter 2015 ready-to-wear line shown in Milan was a romantic ode to women and motherhood; the runway featured a pregnant Bianca Balti as well as a series of models carrying babies.

Stefano has responded to Elton John’s #boycott via a very active weekend’s instagram feed of re-posted positive and supportive comments from his followers alongside his own thoughts and a more official statement claiming: ‘It was never our intention to judge other people's choices.’ Adding to this that the designers both ‘believe in freedom and love.’