MILAN (AP) — Stefano Gabbana has stepped down as chairman of the Italian fashion house that he co-founded with Domenico Dolce, but will continue in his creative role, the company said on Friday.
Gabbana’s resignation from oversight roles was effective Jan. 1. Alfonso Dolce, Domenico Dolce's brother, was named chairman later that month, according to the company's filing with the Milan chamber of commerce.
Dolce & Gabbana in a statement called the move “a natural evolution of its organizational structure and governance.’’
The news was first reported by Bloomberg, which cited sources saying that Gabbana, 63, was considering options to exit his 40% stake in the 41-year-old fashion house.
Dolce & Gabbana’s lenders are up to 150 million euros in new funding as part of a broader refinancing of the fashion house's 450 million euros ($525.7 million) of debt, Bloomberg reported. It added that the company was considering the disposal of real estate and the renewal of licences to raise money.
Dolce & Gabbana declined comment on the company's debt, citing talks with bankers.
Gabbana was present at the last runway show in February, with their longtime muse Madonna as a front-row guest. Both he and Dolce greeted Madonna personally at her seat after the show and brought her backstage.
Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci attended the Dolce & Gabbana runway in character during filming for “The Devil Wears Prada” sequel last September.
Dolce & Gabbana made its Milan runway debut in 1985, with a focus on Sicilian craftsmanship that has been a touchstone throughout the years for the designers. The designers split as a couple some 20 years ago, but have continued to work closely on the creative side.
The brand spiked in popularity in the 1990s with cone bras, corset looks and perfectly tailored black dresses. The designers have often drawn on Dolce's Sicilian roots, with sexy sheer materials and netting for menswear, along with bright floral and fruit prints and jewelry with oversized crosses.
Over the years, they have expanded into fragrance, home goods and watches, among other fashion-adjacent categories.
Luxury sector analyst Luca Solca, at the Bernstein global equity research firm, said he did not anticipate major changes at the fashion house as long as Gabbana remains on in a creative role.
“Stefano Gabbana was the root cause of the social media disaster of Dolce & Gabbana in China a few years ago,'' he said, refering to the cancellation of a 2018 show in Shanghai due to a backlash after the design house released campaign videos that were criticized as culturally insensitive to Chinese people.
“If Stefano Gabbana left, this could be presented as a (belated) atonement from that incident,” Soca added.
FILE - Designers Stefano Gabbana, left, Domenico Dolce accept applause after the Dolce & Gabbana Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - Italian fashion designer Stefano Gabbana arrives on the red carpet to attend the presentation of a portraits book ' Milan Fashion , soccer players portraits' sponsored by Dolce & Gabbana fashion brand, in downtown Milan, Italy, May 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE -Madonna congratulates Domenico Dolce, right, and Stefano Gabbana at the end of the Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Women's collection, presented in Milan, Italy, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni), File)
MADRID (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth and likely final World Cup will be the first for the Portugal great since he left Europe to play in Saudi Arabia.
The surprise move in late 2022 shocked many in the soccer world and prompted widespread doubts about whether his form would be affected by facing lower-level competition.
But Ronaldo, who turned 41 in February, has dismissed any notion of a drop in performance going into next month’s showcase event. And, to help make his case, the goals have kept coming, both for Al Nassr and with Portugal.
Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said Ronaldo is as hungry as ever and doesn’t see any signs that the star forward has slowed down after moving to Saudi Arabia.
“He keeps performing and he keeps showing his value and he keeps showing that (he) is important for the national team,” Martínez said. “To have that hunger when you’ve won everything in the game is quite remarkable. And that’s without getting away from the fact that to be in the national team you need to be somebody that can help the team now and not with what you’ve done in the past.”
Ronaldo and his longtime rival Lionel Messi are set to reach the milestone of playing in six World Cups. Ronaldo is the all-time leader in appearances (226) and goals (143) for a men's national team. He is also the only man to have scored in five World Cups.
“Even though he’s the captain, even though probably he’s achieved what no other player in world football has achieved, which is the number of games for the national team, over 225 appearances, just with that number is a uniqueness about what he brings, but I think he has the same demands as any other player in the national team,” Martínez said.
Ronaldo made the move to Saudi Arabia in the middle of the 2022-23 season after his latest stint with Manchester United, rejecting other offers to take up a reported salary of $200 million a year and “give a different vision of this country and football.” Ronaldo said at the time his work in Europe was done and he was ready for a “new challenge.”
Criticism immediately began to pour in, with many fans and pundits not liking what appeared to be his choice of taking the big Saudi money instead of continuing his career in elite soccer. Some said he was virtually retiring from competitive soccer.
Ronaldo has constantly praised the Saudi league, though, saying it’s better than both the French and the Portuguese leagues. He said those who criticize him should go there and try to compete in temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and keep performing like he has.
“I don’t need to speak because they can say whatever they want, but the numbers don’t lie,” Ronaldo said in an interview with Piers Morgan last year. “They've never been here, they've never played here ... For me it’s (easier) to score in Spain than score in Saudi (league).”
Ronaldo’s move away from Europe did not appear to affect his performances on the international stage with Portugal. He has kept playing at a high level since then, scoring 25 goals in his last 30 games with the national team.
Ronaldo went scoreless in five European Championship games in 2024 as Portugal reached the quarterfinals. In 2025, about two and a half years after he started playing in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo helped Portugal win the Nations League title, with one of his eight goals in the competition coming in the final against Spain.
Ronaldo has maintained a top-notch physical condition despite just having turned 41. He was hindered by a hamstring injury sustained in late February but recovered quickly. On May 7, he was scoring his 100th Saudi Pro League goal in his 105th league appearances for Al Nassr, which has a chance to win its first league title since 2019.
“All the efforts (Cristiano) makes and what he does on the pitch, which he has experienced more than all of us together, which he puts in every day and every game, is unique,” João Félix, Ronaldo’s teammate with both Al Nassr and Portugal, told the Saudi Pro League earlier this year. “And that we see him, at 40 years old, doing what he does, only gives us more motivation.”
Ronaldo scored 14 goals in 16 matches in his debut season in Saudi Arabia in 2022-23. In his first full season, he netted 35 goals in 31 games, setting a new scoring record in the league. Al Nassr won its first Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023 thanks to a pair of goals by Ronaldo in the final.
In the 2024-25 season, Ronaldo scored 25 goals in 30 matches, and so far this season he has found the net 26 times in 29 appearances. He was the league’s top scorer in both of his first two full seasons, and now is five goals shy of Al Ahli’s Ivan Toney.
Ronaldo has said this will definitely be his last attempt at winning the World Cup, but it remains unclear for how long he will continue playing.
His coach with Portugal knows better not to make any guesses.
“It’s difficult for me to say, because obviously I’ve learned very quickly not to predict the future with Cristiano, just because he’s got this elite brain about being the best that he can be today,” Martínez said. “And I’m thinking if you ask him, he’ll tell you the same. He doesn’t make plans.”
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FILE - Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring at the King Saud University Stadium, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)
FILE - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during a World Cup 2026 group F qualifying soccer match between Portugal and Hungary in Lisbon, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)
