Weekly Fashion Refresh: Dolce and Gabbana Hit Controversy
Updated: Dec 10, 2018
The Italian designers, Stefano Gabbana and Domencio Dolce, have found themselves in the midst of controversy this past week following the release of their ‘DG loves China’ campaign. The campaign was met with criticism for showing an Asian model attempting to eat Italian classics with chopsticks.
Diet Prada, an Instagram account at the forefront of fashion news, was the first to bring the issue to light with a post that described the ad as ‘offensive’ and ‘lacking refinement and cultural awareness’. They also stated that the campaign mocks the Chinese culture by showing a ‘parodied version of modern China’.
Stefano Gabbana fuelled the critics by making insulting remarks about the Chinese culture including that they must feel ‘inferior’ if they are offended by the campaign. Though he later blamed the comments made on hackers.
Many have shared the view that the ad is racist, outdated and full of stereotypes including Diet Prada who further commented that the ad was made worse by ‘over the top embellishment, comical pronunciations and Chinese subtitles. This is not the first time Stefano has found himself in hot water. He has faced criticism before following comments made about Selena Gomez and Italian fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni.
Fans of the designers have claimed to boycott the brand and have taken to social media to show themselves burning and destroying their Dolce and Gabbana pieces. The show in Shanghai was cancelled after the story broke but the Italian designers have since appeared in an apology video. Speaking in Italian they asked to be forgiven and understand that they need to better understand and respect the Chinese culture.
They also released the following statement:
“Our dream was to bring to Shanghai a tribute event dedicated to China which tells our story and vision. It was not simply a fashion show, but something that we created especially with love and passion for China and all the people around the world who love Dolce & Gabbana,” Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana said, as per Vogue. “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. From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to express our gratitude to our friends and guests.”
Words by Bethan Shannon
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