Tax evasion fines could potentially lead to the closure of Dolce & Gabbana

To say that Dolce & Gabbana have had a rough past 12 months would perhaps be the understatement of the year. As it is now public knowledge, the two Italian house designers have been accused of evading up to £345.2 million in taxes. Unfortunately, it seems that the designer duo may have to close their eponymous label if they are forced to pay the £296.1 million fine that they have incurred.

According to Vogue.com, Dolce declared: “what do you want us to do? We will close. We will not be able to deal with it. It’s impossible”, while his professional partner Gabbana added, “if we deserved the sentence, there would be nothing to say. But we do not deserve it, and so unfortunately we would have to close.”

We can only imagine how devastated Dolce & Gabbana must be at the sad prospect, not to mention how the fans must feel. With celebrity clients from Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Matthew McConaughay and more, it will be a shock to the fashion industry, for sure.

The pair was also sentenced to 20 months in prison in addition to being handed the mighty fine. In Milan, nine of their stores were temporarily closed after the city’s mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, made his anger known by saying that the designers shouldn’t be allowed to show in Milan’s communal spaces, due to their alleged crimes.

Reports from The Telegraph claimed that Gabbana said: “We are not going to give in to being crucified like thieves, because we are not. How could we accept being branded tax evaders? We are good people, we live in Italy and we pay taxes in Italy. We don’t pretend to live abroad.”

It truly is a sad prospect that the house of Dolce & Gabbana might close; after all, they are revolutionary designers, with some outstanding fashion collections. However, we know that we would miss a shirtless David Gandy in their fragrance ads the most!

Marium Ul-Haq