Elton John has called for a boycott of fashion giant Dolce and Gabbana after he said the designers described IVF-born children as "synthetic".

The songwriter, who has two children with husband David Furnish, angrily ripped into Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who are both gay and were formerly a couple.

In a post on his Instagram account, Elton said: "How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'.

"And shame on you for wagging you judgmental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children.

"Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana."

Mr Dolce's and Mr Gabbana's remarks were attributed to an interview with Panorama magazine in Italy, where they criticised same-sex families and the use of fertility treatment.

They were reported as saying: "We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed."

Mr Dolce said that creating children "must be an act of love", adding: "You are born to a mother and a father – or at least that's how it should be. I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteri (for) rent, semen chosen from a catalogue."

In an interview in 2006, Mr Gabbana revealed that he had asked a woman to be the mother of his baby but made it clear he struggled with the idea of a gay family.

"I am opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two gay parents," he said.

"A child needs a mother and a father. I could not imagine my childhood without my mother. I also believe that it is cruel to take a baby away from its mother."