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.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it, leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

For luxury authentic products & services; http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net/

Content Friend: Reuters

Model-Turned-Lawyer Sues D&G Over Tit-For-Tat Pics UPDATE

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana

BASSIL A. HAMIDEH model-turned-lawyer brought another lawsuit against the North American division of Italian design house, Dolce & Gabbana, in a Los Angeles court recently. He claims the company misappropriated an image of him from a 2002 D&G ad campaign. Hamideh filed a publicity rights lawsuit against D&G last year in state court in California. According to his most recent complaint (which he filed this week 05/03/2013), a month after Hamideh filed suit in 2012, D&G immediately acted against him, subsequently using an image of him in a Facebook campaign without his authorisation.

Both lawsuits are pending. Hamideh began practicing law in 2008 after appearing on the cover of L'Uomo Vogue and in a Hugo Boss campaign in 1995, in addition to the 2002 Dolce & Gabbana ad at issue

Dolce & Gabbana USA Inc. retaliated against Hamideh who sued the Italian designing duo for unauthorised use of a client’s image by using the 10-year-old photographs of the lawyer without his permission, according to a lawsuit filed in California state court.

Bassil A. Hamideh, who is represented by Johnson & Johnson LLP in this case, alleges D&G published images of him in a 2012 Facebook campaign, well after their rights expired and one month after Hamideh filed a publicity rights suit against the company on behalf of another model.

Bassil A. Hamideh

If Hamideh is victorious in his lawsuit, it could mean poetic justice for a former male model who, still smarting from alleged abuse by one of the fashion industry's top purveyors, became a lawyer in order “to protect models from such malfeasance.”

“Disheartened by the rampant abuse of models' rights and the systematic unauthorised use of their images and likeness throughout the industry, [Hamideh] became a lawyer so that he could protect models from defendants like Dolce Gabbana,” the suit claims.

In 2002, D&G hired and photographed Hamideh — a familiar resident of Los Angeles, according to the suit — for a “country chic” advertising campaign that also featured supermodel Giselle Bundchen. D&G's rights to Hamideh's likeness ended Dec. 31, 2003, he claims.

In April 2012, Hamideh represented actor-model Christian Monzon in a lawsuit over D&G's alleged unauthorised use of Monzon's image in advertising materials for Dolce Gabbana Classico Fragrance. The suit was eventually dismissed.

The month after Hamideh filed the Monzon suit, D&G allegedly used images of Hamideh from the 2002-03 country chic campaign to promote new products on the company’s Facebook page — even though the rights to them had expired more than eight years earlier.

The model-turned-lawyer said Monday that he believes D&G misappropriated images of him as part of a retaliation scheme stemming from the Monzon lawsuit. Hamideh claims he has suffered emotional and economic distress over the incident.

“People may be led to believe that Hamideh has abandoned his crusade to protect models and 'sold out' or aligned himself with the other side,” the complaint argued.

Hamideh said the act constitutes oppression, fraud and malice, and claims D&G has gained financially from using the images illegally.

Johnson & Johnson attorney Douglas L. Johnson called D&G’s alleged retaliation scheme “a low blow.”

“I was disappointed that they would do this to a lawyer who spent quite a bit of time changing his career path to become an advocate for models’ rights,” he said.

Hamideh is seeking actual, punitive and statutory damages; injunctive relief; restitution; disgorgement of profits from unauthorised use; a constructive trust; attorneys' fees and costs; and litigation costs.

A representative for the defendant wasn’t immediately available for comment Tuesday.

Hamideh is represented by Douglas L. Johnson and Neville L. Johnson of Johnson & Johnson LLP.

Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available.

The lawsuit is Bassil A. Hamideh v. Dolce & Gabbana, case No. BC502164, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

Still with Dolce & Gabbana fined 344 million euros by Italian Fiscal Authorities to deal with, sources close to the design house duo feel that this is something that has still a long way to run, will keep you posted.

For luxury authentic products and services; http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net/

Date set for Dolce & Gabbana's tax evasion trial

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are to stand trial for tax evasion totalling €416 million. Fashion designing duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana along with six alleged co-conspirators will soon face trial in Milan for criminal tax evasion totally 1 billion euros.

After having been charged then acquitted of tax evasion–then charged again–Dolce & Gabbana, design duo will appear in an Italian court on December 3 2012 The designing duo are accused of evading €416 million of tax in relation to the sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G brands to the designers' Luxembourg-based holding company Gado Srl. The Italian police consider Gado Srl to be a legal body set up to enable the pair to avoid the country's high corporate taxes.

The Guardia di Finanza, an Italian police force under the authority of the national minister of economy and finance, first brought the charges against the pair and five of their business associates in 2007, however, in April 2011 they were dismissed by a lower court, which deemed there was no foundation for a trial. The Italian Supreme Court overturned that decision last November, saying that "tax avoidance, or tax mitigation, on an earnings declaration is a criminal offence under the law," reports WWD . Previously, tax avoidance was not considered a criminal offence

The D&G and Dolce & Gabanna brands were sold to a holding company in Luxembourg in 2004, and prosecutors maintain that this ownership transfer took place explicitly to avoid paying taxes in Italy.

Investigations into the pair's alleged tax evasion began in 2007, but they were cleared of all charges. In November, a higher court overturned the not-guilty verdict, opening up the possibility of a new investigation.

The acquittal on charges of tax fraud remains intact, but the current case challenges the previous ruling of tax elusion and goes after Dolce, Gabanna, and six other for tax evasion--using illegal methods to avoid paying taxes.

Celebrity tax evasion cases, like Luciano Pavarotti's 10 million euro of back taxes settled in 2000, are typically settled outside of court to avoid negative press. If the Dolce and Gabanna case proceeds, it will be one of the first of its kind to go to trial

Although neither Dolce & Gabbana have commented on the trial date, both have previously denied any wrongdoing and have claimed they have a clear conscience.

If convicted, the designers and their co-accused business associates could face up to three years in prison, or a fine of up to €1 million.

For luxury authentic products & services; http://www.luxuryonlinestore.net