Dolce & Gabbana say brand will die with them

The designers behind the high-end fashion power house Dolce & Gabbana have declared their brand will die with them, rather than be passed on to emerging talent or family members.

'Once we're dead, we're dead. I don't want a Japanese designer to start designing Dolce & Gabbana,', founder Domenico Dolce told Italy's Corriere della Sera.

Along with former partner Stefano Gabbana - they split in 2005 - the veteran fashionistas have rejected numerous takeover bids since the brand was founded in 1985, and continue to work extremely closely together on projects. 

And the childless pair, who infamously rejected the notion of same sex families despite their sexuality, insist their company will not be passed on to any relatives, or sold to the highest bidder once they step down.

Instead the brand will simply cease to exist. 

'One can have a lot of money but if you are not free, what do you do with it?' Dolce, 55, said. 

'When we split up, we said to ourselves that it was better to divide up everything, because if I took a blow to the head the next day he would have found himself dealing with someone not involved in the industry, like for example my cousin, who could ruin the business,' Gabbana, also 55, explained. 

'We have created a trust neither of us can touch.'

The pair are riding high on a wave of long running critical and commercial acclaim, and recently saw their company turnover rise by nine per cent to $1.296 billion, with a new profit of nearly $100 million.

However, they have been particularly outspoken on LGBT issues in the past, and provoked furor in 2015 when they said in an interview: 'We oppose gay adoptions. 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.' 

The childless pair, who both have new partners, made it clear their brand would not be passed on to any relatives because procreation 'must be an act of love', but neither were able to love a woman.

Dolce said in the interview with Italy's Panorama magazine: 'You are born to a mother and a father – or at least that's how it should be.

'I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog.'

Gabbana added: 'The family is not a fad. In it there is a supernatural sense of belonging.'

The Corriere della Sera interview came ahead of their Dolce & Gabbana exhibition in New York City on Friday night. 

Sarah Jessica Parker attended the Alta Giorella Exhibition at the New York Public Library.

The 53-year-old fashion icon arrived looking regal in a floral print cape and a green beaded headdress. She auctioned off her entire ensemble for charity at the event for more than $280,000.

 She spent most of the evening alongside the Dolce & Gabbana's creative directors, among a host of other stars.