Dolce and Gabbana: why celebs are boycotting the fashion brand

Elton John has called for a boycott of the fashion brand Dolce and Gabbana after the two designers said gay couples should not have children.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who are both gay and were a couple in the past, said same-sex couples shouldn't have children and criticised the use of IVF and surrogate mothers. "You are born to a mother and father – or at least that’s how it should be," said Dolce.

"I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalogue," he added, according to the BBC.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Elton John, who has two children with his husband, David Furnish, led calls to boycott the fashion brand on social media. "Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions," he said on Instagram.

#BoycottDolceandGabbana soon began trending on Twitter, with celebrities and parents of IVF children coming together to condemn the fashion designers.

The pair has since issued a statement in response to the backlash. "It was never our intention to judge other people's choices. We do believe in freedom and love," said Gabbana. Dolce added that they were expressing their personal views "without judging other people's choices."