CEBU, Philippines - The controversial feud between Dolce & Gabbana and Elton John just went even further.
Stefano Gabbana, who founded the luxury fashion house with his business partner Domenico Dolce, gave a new, follow-up interview to Italy’s Corriere della Sera this week, after the pair offended many with their surprising statements on parenting and family structures.
“The only family is the traditional one,” they said in the original controversy-courting statement to Panorama magazine. “No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.” Dolce added independently, “You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that’s how it should be. I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog.”
While John took issue with the words and quickly spoke out against the pair, gaining support from other celebrities and designers, Gabbana chose not to back down.
“I didn’t expect this, coming from someone whom I considered, and I stress ‘considered,’ an intelligent person like Elton John,” the designer, 52, began, questioning John’s intelligence. “You preach understanding, tolerance and then you attack others? Only because someone has a different opinion? Is this a democratic or enlightened way of thinking? This is ignorance, because he ignores the fact that others might have a different opinion and that theirs is as worthy of respect as his.”
“It’s an authoritarian way of seeing the world: agree with me or, if you don’t, I’ll attack you,” Gabbana added of John, who started a campaign to boycott Dolce & Gabbana, taking offense as the father of two children born via IVF with his partner David Furnish. “I even posted the word ‘Fascist!’ on his Instagram.”
Gabbana, who previously dated his collaborator Dolce, added that those boycotting the line should be able to separate work from opinions.
“It would be ridiculous,” he said. “Either you like somebody’s songs or you don’t. When you go to the greengrocer’s, you don’t make sure that he agrees with your views on IVF. You just want to know if he has fresh products. This whole campaign came up online. It was created by a group of gay activists who put into our mouths words we never said. It’s like people who go to a football game to insult their opponents. That doesn’t make any sense. That’s preposterous.” (FREEMAN)