WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.: Some of Hollywood’s top fashionistas are standing behind Dolce & Gabbana; others aren’t so sure.
The embattled brand was on the minds – and bodies – of guests at the Hollywood Reporter’s fourth annual luncheon honoring the industry’s most influential stylists.
Gwen Stefani wore a Dolce & Gabbana polka-dot ensemble to the private party at Soho House sponsored by Jimmy Choo. And the first advertisement inside the trade magazine’s “Stars & Stylists” issue is a two-page tout for the label.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana denigrated surrogacy and same-sex parents in an interview with an Italian magazine, prompting Elton John to call for a boycott of the brand. Stars including Martina Navratilova and talk-show host Andy Cohen quickly hopped on board.
Stylist Samantha McMillen, who counts Johnny Depp and Chris Hemsworth among her clients, said she loves Dolce & Gabbana’s clothes but feels their recent remarks put her in a “weird place.”
“I don’t really know what to do at the moment,” she said, adding that she generally believes in second chances. “I’ll respect whatever my clients want to do.”
Another stylist said she and her client had picked a Dolce & Gabbana outfit, but the star’s publicist put the kibosh on it.
Jason Rembert, who works with Rita Ora, said he hopes the flap over the design duo’s comments pass quickly. “They seem to be really great people. I’ve met them before,” he said. “And their teams are really amazing.”
Taylor Swift’s stylist, Joseph Cassell, isn’t sure what the fallout for Dolce & Gabbana might be.
“I am a gay man. I’ve adopted two children. I’m so busy with my kids, I can’t stop to think of what (the designers) may or may not have said,” he remarked. “The only thing I wish I could talk to them and say right now is, talking to the press is dangerous.”-AP