UPDATE: In an interview with Corriere, Stefano Gabbana has hit out at Elton John and the calls to boycott the brand. "We are about freedom," he said. "Anyone can make the choices they want. Domenico has his ideas, he made some choices. Elton John made different choices. Different choices, different lives. Equal respect. What I see, particularly online, is a lot of gay people who are homophobic: gay people who will attack other gay people who express ideas that are different from theirs. I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect this, coming from someone whom I considered, and I stress “considered”, an intelligent person like Elton John. I mean, 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."

Read the full interview here.

A glut of stars, led by Elton John, are calling for the world to boycott Dolce and Gabbana after the pair made controversial comments in an interview about gay marriage and IVF. Speaking to Panorama, the designers said: "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."

Both Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are gay and were in a relationship together for 23 years. They also said in the interview: "I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalogue."

Elton John married David Furnish in December 2014 after gay marriage became legal in the UK. The couple have two sons, both born to the same surrogate mother. John hit back at the designers' comments in a post on Instagram and called for a boycott of the brand, labelling their views "archaic and out of step with the times, just like their fashions."

Since John lashed out, a number of stars have followed suit and taken to Twitter to criticise Dolce and Gabbana's opinions, including Victoria Beckham and Courtney Love, who said she wanted to "burn all her Dolce and Gabbana pieces".

After the backlash began, Dolce and Gabbana attempted to clear things up with a statement. "I was talking about my personal view, without judging other people’s choices and decisions," said Dolce. Gabbana said, "We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people’s choices. We do believe in freedom and love.”

It's been a difficult few years for the designers. In 2008 they were accused of tax fraud, but finally found innocent late last year. The comments made in the Panorama interview could prove costly for the pair. It's 2015, LGBT rights are increasingly (and rightfully) part of a global conversation. The backwards opinions hint at a duo who are out of touch with the direction the world is moving in.

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