Oy vey—Dolce & Gabbana is not having a good week.
Just days after experiencing strong public backlash over their comments about children conceived via insemination to the Italian magazine Panorama, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are facing a new wave of pointed criticism over one of their own campaign ads. Kelly Cutrone, a well-known fashion publicist behind People's Revolution, slammed the pair on Twitter for an ad that she believes simulates a "gang bang." (Many commenters on her post, meanwhile, contend that photo—which shows a woman being pinned to the floor by a man with three other men watching nearby—actually suggests rape.)
For a refresher, the call for boycotting D&G began over an interview in which Domenico described children conceived through IVF as "synthetic." The designer continued to say that "the only family is the traditional one," while Stefano added, "Life has its natural course, there are things that must not be changed. And one of these is the family."
This campaign in question is not too dissimilar from other racy releases from the brand over the years: The ads are typically hyper-sexualized, and often contain homoerotic themes—another main point of contention for critics who have slammed the duo's controversial view over same-sex vs. "traditional" families.
Elton John—who shares two sons born via surrogate with longtime love David Furnish—was one of the first public figures to decry the remarks, writing an open response to Dolce and Gabbana on social media: "Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions," he said, before calling for a boycott the luxury designer label.
Other celebs who began families with adoption or insemination, including Sharon Stone, Ricky Martin and Ryan Murphy, also spoke out against the designers' view.
Domenico and Stefano (who were in a 23-year romantic relationship that ended in 2005), responded with a, well, pseudo-apology after the story began to circulate widely over the weekend.
Dolce told E! News that while his own family was "traditional," he didn't mean his words to "imply that I don't understand different ones."
"I was talking about my personal view, without judging other people's choices and decisions," he said. "I'm Sicilian and I grew up in a traditional family, made up of a mother, a father and children. I am very well aware of the fact that there are other types of families and they are as legitimate as the one I've known...But in my personal experience, family had a different configuration. That is the place where I learnt the values of love and family."
Oddly enough, Dolce & Gabbana's fall-winter 2015 collection was an ode to mothers (with many models carrying their own children down the runway). Maybe one day the duo's catwalk will put forth a more inclusive portrait of family.