Design duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana—who were fined $470 million and sentenced to 18 months in jail after being found guilty of tax fraud last year—were upset that US publication Vanity Fair is planning a feature on their financial woes and called Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, who is also artistic director at publishing group Condé Nast, in a bid to have the article pulled.
The pair also threatened to remove their advertisements from all publisher's titles (worth $20 million) if the proposed article wasn't axed, the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column reports.
Anna refused their request, however, although she, along with Vogue writer Hamish Bowles, was a guest at D&G's extravagant show in Capri last month, and it got rave reviews in the publication.
The editor also got interview time with the designers "as a way of appeasing them without mortgaging the journalistic integrity of Condé Nast over killing the piece."
A source added: "She went to save the advertising."
The fashion house continue to advertise in GQ, Allure, Details, Vogue and Condé Nast Traveler—but doesn't advertise in Vanity Fair.
A spokesperson for Vanity Fair said: "We don't comment on whether we are or are not working on a story."
