D&G's show in Shanghai canceled after allegations of racism

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has been accused of racism over its new promotional videos featuring an Asian woman eating Western food with chopsticks. In the videos posted on Weibo and other social media platforms, the woman is seen eating Italian food using chopsticks in odd and playful ways.

The videos were part of a campaign named "DG Loves China" released ahead of the fashion house's big show in Shanghai. The videos sparked heated discussions on China's social media platforms, as well as criticism on Instagram and Facebook as some users found them racist, stereotypical and disrespectful toward Chinese culture and Chinese women. They've demanded an apology from the brand. The videos on D&G's official Weibo account have been deleted, while those on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are still there.

Screenshot via Dolce & Gabbana official Twitter account [Screenshot: China Plus]

A user posted a chat record showing a conversation allegedly with D&G designer director Stefano Gabbana on Instagram. In the chat the individual who is supposedly the designer first argued about D&G's previously released promotional video, which was allegedly insulting, before going on a rage and insulting China.

Chat record released by Instagram user @michaelatranova. [Photo: Instagram]

Both the designer and a D&G official later wrote on Instagram that the account was hacked and the dialogue posted on the Internet was not their intention. However, some rejected this explanation.

D&G designer Stefano Gabbana claims on Instagram that his account was hacked and that he's sorry for what happened. [Photo:Instagram]

Since the controversy started, Chinese stars and models pulled out from D&G's fashion show originally scheduled for Wednesday night in Shanghai. Chinese top celebrities including Zhang Ziyi, Li Bingbing, Chen Kun have confirmed their absence from the show. Zhang Ziyi even stated that she'll not buy or use D&G's products ever. Many Chinese models have also withdrawn from the D&G Shanghai show and launched the "Not Me" campaign on social media. The show was eventually canceled due to the collective boycott.

The "Not Me" campaign on social media launched by Chinese models. [Photo: Weibo]

In fact, this is not the first time that D&G's ads trigger controversy. Back to April 2017, D&G posted a series of marketing videos and photos labeled # D&G Love China# on Weibo. However, this group photos has caused uproar on Weibo and is considered to be deliberately demonizing the Chinese.