Domenico Dolce has apologised for remarks he made on IVF and gay families back in March. "We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one,” he told Italian magazine Panorama. The designer went on to describe children born through IVF as “children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalogue.”

Unsurpisingly, these comments sparked outrage. Elton John – who has two sons born through the IVF – called for a boycott global boycott of Dolce & Gabbana and LGBT activist Peter Tatchell staged a protest outside the brand’s London store. Courtney Love even tweeted that she wanted to round up her Dolce & Gabbana clothes and “burn them.”

Now however, Sig. Dolce has said sorry, telling American Vogue that he’s “done some soul-searching”. “I’ve realised my words were inappropriate, and I apologise,” he says. “You don’t need labels, baby labels. I think everybody chooses for themselves. I don’t know everything about IVF, but I love it when people are happy. It’s like medicine. Science has been put on the table to help people.”

While it’s still not legal for gay couples to adopt in Italy (a predominantly Roman Catholic country), 2015 has by and large been a been a year of breakthrough for the LGBT community. Same-sex marriage has been legalised in both the US and the Republic of Ireland and, thanks to Caitlyn Jenner and already iconic her Vanity Fair cover, trans visibility is perhaps at an all-time high.

Watch Dolce & Gabbana’s SS16 men’s show below: