Designers Dolce and Gabbana Face Italian Jail Term

Dolce + Gabbana
(photo: nenamushan.blogspot.com)

One of the great Italian sports is tax evasion. People from all walks of life, from all regions, from all political persuasions, take part in this endeavor. The national government's revenue arm chases tax dodgers, with a preference for high-profile cases. Sophia Loren, for example, lost a tax battle; as a consequence, she lived in exile for a number of years until Loren and her husband Carlo Ponti rendered an appropriate sum unto the modern-day Roman Caesars.

The government's current celebrity scalps belong to the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. According to a BBC report, a court recently found the pair guilty of tax avoidance. They were sentenced to over one year in prison, pending appeal.

The Italian judicial process strikes natives and stranieri alike as byzantine and unfathomable. This puzzlement includes the appeals, in which D+G currently find themselves. It could be years before the case reaches a truly final verdict. Dolce and Gabbana may discover it prudent to follow the familiar path of fashionable exile that Loren, Ponti, and many others traveled nearly a half-century ago.