Gay Fashion Designer Who Incited Elton John's Fury Over Same-Sex Adoption and IVF Opposition Hits Back at the Singer: 'Fascist!

The battle between singer Elton John and famed fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana has heated up over the past 24 hours, with Gabbana calling the musician "ignorant" and "fascist" following a spat over the duo's views on gay adoption and in vitro fertilization.

The very public debate unfolded after the fashion designers and owners of Dolce & Gabbana recently told Panorama magazine that they "oppose gay adoptions" and that "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," they said, according to the Telegraph.

How dare you refer to my beautiful children as "synthetic". And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children. Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana

A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Mar 14, 2015 at 10:29pm PDT

Dolce wasn't done there, either. He said that procreation should be rooted in love.

"You are born to a mother and a father – or at least that’s how it should be," he said. "I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog."

Their perspective was surprising to some, considering that the two men were in a decades-long relationship with one another before breaking up in 2005.

John was infuriated by their claims, taking to Instagram in Sunday, where he lashed out at the designers and called for a boycott of the fashion company.

"How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic," he wrote. "And shame on you for wagging your [sic] judgemental little fingers at IVF — a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to [sic] fulfil their dream of having children."

John, who recently married David Furnish and has two children who were conceived using IVF, continued, "Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana"

Despite putting out a subsequent release claiming they weren't trying to judge others' choices, the designers are doubling down, claiming that they have the right to voice their opinion on the matter, Mediaite reported.

"We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices," Gabbana wrote on his Instagram account on Monday, also noting that the duo believe in the "freedom of expression." "We do believe in freedom and love."

A photo posted by stefanogabbana (@stefanogabbana) on Mar 16, 2015 at 7:29am PDT

The battle didn't end there, though. In an interview with Corrier Della Sera, Gabbana called John "ignorant" and defended his right to voice his opinion, taking aim at the way in which the singer responded to the controversy.

"I wasn’t expecting it from someone like Elton John I used to think – and I stress ‘used to’ – was intelligent. What’s going on?" he said. "You preach understanding. You preach tolerance. And then you put the knife in? All because someone else doesn’t see things your way? Is that supposed to be a democratic way of thinking? Enlightened?"

Gabbana continued, "He’s ignorant, in the sense that he denies ways of seeing things that may not be his but are just as deserving of respect."

The designer also responded to John's Instagram post by writing, "Fascist!!" NPR reported. 

This isn't the first time Gabbana has spoken out about this issue, telling a newspaper back in 2006 that he had approached a woman and asked her to potentially have his child, though he said he was conflicted with the notion, according to the BBC.

"I am opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two gay parents," he said at the time. "A child needs a mother and a father. I could not imagine my childhood without my mother. I also believe that it is cruel to take a baby away from its mother."

(H/T: Mediaite)