Dolce & Gabbana cancels fashion show in Shanghai amid racism accusations, issues apology
Dolce & Gabbana were accused of depicting Chinese culture in a derogatory manner after a marketing campaign showed a Chinese model struggling to eat cannoli, pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks.
Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana cancelled its show scheduled for 21 November in Shanghai after its latest ad campaign was accused of being racist and furthering stereotypes associated with China and its people. After the cancellation, private messages of the label's co-founder Stefano Gabbana reportedly making derogatory remarks about Chinese culture also surfaced online.
According to The Guardian, the brand published a video of a Chinese model struggling to eat a pizza, cannoli and spaghetti with chopsticks. Weibo users accused the brand for depicting Chinese in a derogatory manner and trivialising their culture. The video was taken down within 24 hours, but has been shared widely over social media. 'Boycott Dolce' has since been mentioned more than 18,000 times on the platform. The users also demanded an apology, reports Jing Daily.
Instagram account Diet Prada, known for bashing the fashion industry shared the video as well as messages Stefano had exchanged with fashion writer Michaela Phuong.
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As @dolcegabbana prepares to mount their next runway show in Shanghai this coming evening (7:30PM) and the rest of Instagram fawns over what’s sure to be an overly lavish “love letter” to China, we’ll be wondering if we’ll see chopsticks as hair ornaments, take-out boxes as purses, or even kimonos misappropriated as Chinese costume. Time will tell. For now, we’ll let y’all simmer on this DM between Stefano and Dieter @michaelatranova (chronology is reversed in slides). Word has it that they’re still in the process of model casting (over 200 Asian girls scheduled)...wouldn’t let them walk the show if we were their agents lol. Also, curious what the Chinese government will think of their country being called shit basically...especially considering how strict they are on who to allow to enter the country on work visas based on a thorough social media background checks. • #DGTheGreatShow #DGlovesChina #runway #fashionshow #cancelled #racism #dolceandgabbana #altamoda #rtw #dgmillennials #stefanogabbana #shanghai #chinese #china #wtf #dumb #lame #asianmodel #asian #dietprada A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on
The company released a statement, claiming that Stefano's account had been hacked and the legal office was conducting an investigation. "We are very sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorised posts, comments and direct message," reads the post. "We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China," it added.
In another statement, the label said that the now-cancelled Shanghai fashion show was "something that we created especially with love and passion for China and all the people around the world who love Dolce & Gabbana …What happened today was very unfortunate not only for us, but also for all the people who worked day and night to bring this event to life."
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