Dolce and Gabbana jail time has been reduced to 18 months. The famous designers’ sentence was for tax evasion charges filed against them, where they have been accused of hiding millions of euros from Italian tax authorities.

One of the Italian fashion icon’s lawyers, who have consistently denied wrongdoing of the pair, has said that they would appeal the decision. “I am speechless. We are all shocked. The judgment is inexplicable and we will appeal,” Massimo Dinoia said after the judgment, Reuters reported.

The Italian court upheld the verdict issued last year against Dolce and Gabbana, who are as famous as the stars they dress. The charges against them were for using a Luxembourg holding company to avoid paying taxes on royalties of about 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion).

The sentence was reduced from 20 months because the statute of limitations applied to certain facts in the case.

A Milan prosecutor had asked the courts in March to clear the pair, who in a protest last year at being “pilloried” – closed the Milan shops where they sell clothes and accessories inspired by Dolce’s native Sicily.

Reuters reports that the previous decision by a lower court handed the duo suspended jail sentences of 20 months each and imposed a fine of up to 10 million euros over avoidance of payments in Italy, where corporate taxes are among the highest in Europe.

The case was rooted from an investigation that started in 2008 when Italian tax authorities stepped up their fight against tax evasion as the global financial crisis began to bite.

Fashion entities have fallen under the scrutiny of Italy’s tax authorities partly because of the fact that the sector has performed well during the country’s longest recession since World War Two.

“Luxury is one of the few sectors to have done well in recent years,” said a partner specializing in tax at Grant Thornton in Milan who declined to be named, Reuters reports.

“It is easier to go and ask for money where there is money as opposed to going to a troubled sector.”