Dolce & Gabanna founders call cancelation "unfortunate" in follow-up statement

Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana's founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have issued a statement on Instagram following the cancelation of their show in Shanghai, calling it "unfortunate" and expressing their gratitude to friends and guests. 

A statement released by Dolce & Gabbana's founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana on the brand's official Instagram account. [Photo: Instagram]

"Dolce & Gabbana releases another statement" became the second most trending topic on Weibo on Thursday morning having been discussed over 2.8 million times. 

Gabbana enraged Chinese internet users with insulting remarks toward China in an Instagram exchange with a user with the screen name "michaelatranova," who accused Gabbana of being racist in his brand's promotional videos. 

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

Dolce & Gabbana has since apologized and claimed both their official Instagram account and that of Stefano Gabbana were hacked. 

Chinese people didn't buy the explanation and some of China's most well-known celebrities and models who were invited to the show pulled out of it. 

The brand's official Weibo account released a statement hours before "The Great Show" was scheduled to take place on Wednesday saying that it has been postponed and it apologizes for the inconvenience.

Workers clean an empty stage for Dolce & Gabbana's "The Great Show" in Shanghai after it was canceled on November 21, 2018. [Photo: IC]

The studios of both Chinese actress Dilraba and singer/actor Karry Wang, who have been Dolce & Gabbana's brand ambassadors for the Asia/Pacific region, said that they have terminated the cooperation with the brand with immediate effect. 

Chengdu-based National Business Daily cited wallstreetcn.com as reporting that by Thursday morning, all Dolce & Gabbana's products have been pulled from Chinese online shopping platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, Suning and Vipshop.com. 

An empty backstage for Dolce & Gabbana's "The Great Show" in Shanghai after it was canceled on November 21, 2018. [Photo: IC]