Dolce & Gabbana Creative Director Resigns Over Antifamily Comments

The creative director of Dolce & Gabbana's online magazine Swide has stepped down from his role amid the controversy surrounding the comments the two designers made to an Italian magazine late last week, disparaging nontraditional families and children born through alternative reproductive technologies.

In a public Facebook post (which was posted in Italian with an accompanying English translation), Swide creative director Giuliano Federico said that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's comments were "in total conflict" with his "personal beliefs and commitments towards civil rights" in Italy and that he would be stepping down from his role because of them.

"I'm proud of being Italian, proud of our pasts and traditions," Federico said in his online statement. "But I believe that Italy can look at a more modern and equal future for our citizens and children. All children."

According to the Swidewebsite, Federico joined the online fashion and lifestyle magazine at its founding in 2008 as editor in chief and transitioned to the role of creative director in May 2013.

Federico's resignation comes on the heels of comments made by Dolce and Gabbana made in an interview with Italian news magazine Panorama, criticizing nontraditional families and children of same-sex couples. "The only family is the traditional one," the two business partners and former romantic partners said in their interview.

Dolce also told the magazine that procreation "must be an act of love" and that children born through the use of alternative insemination or egg donation are "children of chemistry" and "synthetic children."

Federico isn't the only big name lashing out against the high-end designers' comments. Gay parents such as Elton John, Ryan Murphy, and Ricky Martin took to Twitter over the weekend to call for a boycott of the major fashion label.

While many celebrities and Dolce & Gabbana's own employees oppose the designers' views, conservative organizations like the antigay National Organization for Marriage have come out in support for the two, calling the fashion designers "wonderful advocates for the true definitions of marriage and family."