How do you solve a problem like Gabbana?
As one of fashion’s most controversial (and powerful) members, Stefano Gabbana has been making international headlines recently not for his designs, but rather for his inflammatory comments directed toward women and the women’s movement.
Need a quick recap?
Gabbana’s been an ongoing supporter of Melania Trump, started fights with the popular Instagram account @diet_prada, dismissed #MeToo, insulted Kate Moss, made a whole bunch of nasty statements about IVF parenting.
Now he’s gone and called Selena ugly, and I’ve had enough.
So have 168 million online Selena fans.
https://twitter.com/rickrvsso/status/1006776618755477504
Gabbana posted his unprompted remarks in the comment section of an image uploaded by The Catwalk Italia.
He wrote: “E proprio brutta!!!”, which in English translates to, “she’s so ugly!!!”.
When another commenter joked that Gomez looked like a Pomeranian dog, Gabbana added “hahahahahaha is true hahahaha,” just in case his initial insults directed at her appearance weren’t already clear.
While Selena took the high road and decided not to reply, Miley Cyrus called Gabbana out in the comment section of another image.
“What that d**k head said (if it’s true) is f**king false and total bull s**t”.
Even 13 Reasons Why actor, Tommy Dorfman, had a few things to say.
“@stefanobabbana you’re tired and over. your homophobic, misogynistic, body-shaming existence will not thrive in 2018,” he wrote. “It is no longer tolerable or chic. please take many seats.”
You tell ‘em guys and gals!
Besides the random comments on the appearance of young women, Gabbana has also made controversial comments in recent times about IVF parenting.
“We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one … No chemical offsprings and rented uterus; Life has a natural flow, there are thins that should not be changed.”
https://twitter.com/helloalle/status/1006857729296752640
But wait, there’s more.
In May this year, Gabbana gave an interview to the The Washington Post where he argued that #MeToo wasn’t an issue in Italy because Italians respect women.
“We have a lot of women [at Dolce & Gabbana]. They are the best… the woman is [sic] more powerful than men. All the things about women in the U.S., we don’t have the same [issues] because we have a lot of respect for women. Our mentality is totally different.”
The Washington Post quickly pointed out that the Italian National Institute of Statistics crunched the numbers and revealed that 43.6 percent of Italian women between the ages of 14 and 65 had all experienced sexual harassment.
What Gabbana doesn’t realise, or chooses not to acknowledge is that the supposed non-issue of sexual harassment in his country is probably caused by the fact that it’s largely normalised in Italy – not that it doesn’t actually happen.
While his latest comments about Selena Gomez might seem like a trivial issue to get upset about in comparison to everything else he’s said and done – it’s actually just as valid and important.
He wasn’t just calling her ugly. He was commenting on a young woman’s appearance and body shaming her on a global platform.
It’s online bullying, trolling, and yes it’s a big deal.
https://twitter.com/dressvinyl/status/1006850460890824704
Millions of women around the world are subjected to this kind of abuse on a daily basis.
Whether Selena is a celebrity or not, it’s not OK sling vile abuse at a young woman on the basis of her appearance – this just makes others think it’s OK to do the same thing and the cycle of online harassment continues.
So, when exactly is the fashion world going to finally cut ties with this inflammatory and problematic individual?
How do we bite back at Gabbana when most of us can’t stop buying his clothes because we could never afford them in the first place?
The answer is – there’s actually nothing much we can do because Gabbana doesn’t care what we think.
He’s loaded with money, he enjoys causing controversy, and he doesn’t’ need our approval.
All we can do is continue voicing our issues with the designer and hope that more and more celebrities and brands eventually distance themselves from the fashion house so that Gabbana’s ability to have a platform or audience is removed.
Antoni Porowski from Queer Eye recently apologised for wearing D&G in a now-deleted Instagram post.
He now joins the ranks of Elton John, Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love – all who have stopped supporting the brand due to Gabbana’s controversial opinions.
Let’s hope that list keeps growing.