Dolce and Gabbana won't face tax charges

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana will not stand trial for allegedly evading one billion euros in tax.

An Italian judge decided there was not enough evidence to take the fashion duo - popularly known as Dolce and Gabbana - to court after an investigation into the company Gado Sri they set up in Luxembourg.

The investigation by Italian authorities was based on the alleged failure of the pair to declare revenues of approximately 840 million euros and claims by investigators that Gado Sri is a legal entity set up to avoid higher tax rates in Italy.

Giuseppe Bana, the lawyer representing the designers' accountant Luciano Patelli, told WWD: "I am very pleased with this decision.

"The judge prevented this from going too far. It's an investigation that should never have been initiated in the first place."

Addressing the allegations previously, the former couple said: "It's an absurd demand based on a completely abstract calculation.

"We will tell the 3,800 employees of the companies, which compose the group, that we have paid all that was due and that we will strenuously defend ourselves to avoid being unjustly forced to pay for something that never existed in the first place.

"This higher taxable sum is a virtual figure we have never received, the result of a theoretical accounting exercise."