Italian designer duo Dolce and Gabbana shot back at fashion icon Giorgio Armani on Monday denying they have copied a design of his and ruling him out as an inspiration for their work.
''For sure we still have much to learn, but certainly not from him,'' Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana said Monday on the sidelines of Milan's fashion week.
''Now they copy, later they will learn,'' Armani quipped Sunday night, after presenting his Emporio Armani collection, when shown photographs comparing trousers he had designed and those presented by D&G the day before.
''Armani's style has never been a source of inspiration for us, in fact we don't even look at his collections anymore,'' the duo said in a statement.
''We have created our fortune through a Dolce & Gabbana style, one linked to Sicily and its sartorial and other traditions and which is recognised the world over,'' they added.
In a parting shot at Armani, D&G added: ''as Picasso said: to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility''.
