Dolce & Gabbana close nine shops in protest at being "pilloried"

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana

DOLCE & GABBANA shut shops to protest public criticism.

MILAN, July 19 (Reuters) - Italian fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana closed their Milan stores for three days on Friday in protest at being "pilloried" over their convictions for tax evasion in June, which they say they will appeal.

The words "Closed for Indignation" were emblazoned in the windows of the designers' shop in an upmarket street in Milan, the city where the pair showed their first collection in 1985.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were given 20-month jail terms for evading taxes on royalties of about a billion euros ($1.3 billion) by selling their brand to a Luxembourg-based holding company in 2004.

Their lawyers say they are confident of overturning the convictions. The pair are unlikely to spend time in jail due to the complexity and length of the appeals process.

"We are no longer willing to suffer undeservedly the accusations of the financial police and the income revenue authority, attacks from public ministers and the media pillory we have already been subjected to for years," they said in a statement.

The pair said they would continue to pay their more than 250 employees in Milan during the temporary closure of all their nine shops in the city.

D&G Corset

Passers-by stopped to read an article displayed in the shop window that quoted a city councillor saying the city should not let the duo show their collections in communal spaces during the city's famous fashion week in September.

"We don't need to be represented by tax evaders," councillor Franco D'Alfonso was quoted as saying.

Famed for producing sexy corset dresses and bold patterns inspired by Dolce's native Sicily, the fashion house earned just under 1.5 billion euros in global revenues in 2011.

The case is one of the few high-profile tax evasion cases to come to light in Italy, where corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world.

"Taxes are going up all the time," said Marco Daddio, a tailor from Naples whose eye was caught by the unusual appearance of Dolce & Gabbana's shop window on Friday.

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Content Friend: Reuters

Watch Helena Bonham Carter As Elizabeth Taylor In 'Burton & Taylor!'

Helena Bonham Carter & Dominic West; movie 'Burton & Taylor!'

ELIZABETH TAYLOR memory is to be immortalised forever on the big screen thanks to the BBC movie, Burton & Taylor. The movie will document the couple tempestuous love affair, as the the twice-divorced couple theatre for their 1983 production of Private Lives. In this short taster for made-for-television movie, sees the dishy Dominic West as Burton and Helena Bonham Carter as Taylor. 

Elizabeth Tayor

 The film will premiere on July 22nd, 2013.

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Rihanna Sues Philip Green's Topshop for £3.5m over 'Ugly' T-shirt

Rihanna at the Grammys - suing Philip Green out of 'principle' (Reuters)

RIHANNA is reportedly suing high street fashion store Topshop over T-shirts that have an "unflattering" photo of her on them (23/05/13).

Now, I have struggled to find an ugly picture of the 25-year-old singer who has been reported as suing Sir Philip Green's company for £3.5m, High Court papers filed through law firm Reed Smith in March show.

She says that not only did Topshop use her picture without her permission, the image they chose makes her look ugly - the photo shows her with her hair tied up in a bandanna.

"The base image of the first claimant (Rihanna) is of such an unflattering nature that it would not be approved," the papers say.

Rihanna also takes issue with the quality of the T-shirts, saying both the image and the product "would not have been authorised by the first claimant".

'Unflattering' Topshop t-shirt of Rihanna

In UK law, the copyright of a photograph is owned by the photographer, not the person in the picture. Topshop also said it was allowed to use the image as it was taken in a public place.

The singer is said to be irritated at these laws and is pushing ahead with the lawsuit out of principle, not vanity.

A source said: "RiRi says it's the principle. She believes they are taking advantage of artists, that it's just exploitation and what they are doing is wrong."

Reports go on to say Green offered Rihanna, who is estimated to be worth £35m, £3,500 in compensation, which she turned down.

Should Rihanna win the lawsuit, it would be a landmark case as, at present, there is no "right of publicity" law in the UK.

In the US, however, this law prevents the use of a person's image or name for advertising or trade without their written consent.

All this took place whilst Rihanna was currently promoting her own fashion line with Topshop rival River Island (view that here). Which makes me wonder how much foul play is connected to this action, as the two have vied for celebrities but speaking about the collection, she said: "I made a piece for everybody in my crew, we all have different body types and different tastes.

Rihanna for River Island

"Some are braver than others, but, you know, I think like that because that's how all the women in the world are. We're all different, we all like different things, we all have different occasions, different moods, different body types."

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Louis Vuitton’s Selfridges Graffiti Attack

Eine bespoke graffiti scarf for LV

LOUIS VUITTON has hired former graffiti artist turned street artist Eine to create a bespoke scarf, bearing his signature colourful lettering which can be seen in various east London streets. The piece will launch at Selfridges with a textiles pop-up shop - which Eine will be spray painting this weekend while shoppers watch on. The space itself opens on Monday June 24, and will sell a selection of the brand's latest spring/summer 2013 accessories.

Eine bespoke graffiti scarf for LV

Although Eine started by covering shop shutters and walls with his colourful alphabet lettering, his work was given a mainstream appeal after David Cameron gave Barack Obama one of his paintings, entitled Twenty First Century City, as a present in July 2010. Vuitton has long had a relationship with the art world, having previously collaborated with Yayoi Kusama and Stephen Sprouse.

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Content thanks: VOGUE

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Dolce & Gabbana Found Guilty of Tax Evasion, Sentenced to Jail UPDATE

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana

After more than seven months on trial for tax evasion, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have each been sentenced to one year and eight months in prison after being found guilty of tax evasion. A jury met for three hours this afternoon to discuss the legal ruling which is one of three legal procedures that will determine a final verdict. June last month and now we here from the designing duo's lawyers.

The designers had already been hit with a $440 million fine by Italy’s Tax Commission as punishment for their crimes, which stemmed from a 2008 investigation into the 2004 sale of its signature and D&G lines to Luxembourg-based holding company Gado Srl - which Italian authorities believe was a means of evading Italy's high taxes - charges that the designers have strongly denied. The designers' lawyer, Massimo Dinoia, called for the pair to be acquitted of the charges - while prosecutor Gaetano Ruta demanded that Dolce, Gabbana and company board member Cristiana Ruella should be sent to prison for two-and-a-half years.  He added that their accountant, Luciano Patelli, should be incarcerated for three years.

Judge Antonella Brambilla ruled in the case on one of two counts. They were cleared of the second count - involving the valuation of their company and the tax rate paid - at an earlier date. Although the case had been dismissed once (in 2011), and though their lawyer had requested a full acquittal in the current trial, Italian judge Antonella Brambilla saw enough merit in the case to put the designers behind bars.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana

The designer's lawyer issued a statement soon after, as this: "With great satisfaction, we acknowledge that - for the second time - a judge of the Milan Court has reiterated once more the absolute innocence - because the allegations are untrue - of Mr Domenico Dolce and Mr Stefano Gabbana of the accusation of having unfaithfully declared their earnings (the "notorious" million dollars of Euros).

Even more so, we are satisfied about the result of this part of the verdict because, according to Italian legislation, the statute of limitations had already run out of the charge of misrepresenting income. Despite this fact, the judge felt the need to acquit them on the matter: this means that, according to the Italian law, the proof of their innocent is more than obvious.

On the other hand, as we had the chance to state during the trial, the charges were simply a paradox: the two designers were charged with not having paid taxes for an amount of money which was double of what they had actually earned.

The Court has ruled correctly to what we have always stated and has calmed all the citizens: nobody will ever be held responsible for not having paid taxes that exceed what they had actually grossed.

Frankly speaking, we were astonished that our thesis on the regularity of everyone's behaviour related to the taxes omission payment by Gado, was not accepted. In fact, the CEO of this Company together with other people including the designers, were found guilty of having contributed in a violation of the said taxes declaration omission. We will strongly appeal this part of the verdict, certain that the result will be over-turned in appeal

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana

The absolution of the designers for the declarations related to their individual earnings is at the same time blatant and dramatic, because, notwithstanding the same fact was ruled as non-existent by today's Court, the Internal Revenue Service might proceed with their operations against them, fining them for the excessive and surreal amount of money of more than 400 million Euros.

Due to the fact that the two designers do not have this kind of money - as the judge stated today, that they have never earned it - most probably the Internal Revenue Service will attack their most precious part of their patrimony, which is their shareholding in the Dolce & Gabbana Company.

We are anxious to even think of what the economic and social repercussion of this act might mean." 

Well I cannot see either of these two in stripes, and will probably want to re design the existing prison uniforms with a little more taste and could be the trendiest uniforms ever but I seriously hope it does not come to that!

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