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Dolce & Gabbana fashion designers
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana issued a video apology Friday after
their planned over-the-top show was canceled in Shanghai amid
accusations of racism.
“We have always been in love with China,” Dolce said in Italian in a video uploaded to Chinese social-media site Weibo. “We love your culture and we certainly have much to learn. That is why we are sorry if we made mistakes in the way we expressed ourselves.”
The brouhaha began when the brand unveiled short videos to promote the fashion show. The promos feature a Chinese woman attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks and racy commentary, which many viewers called out as racist.
Private messages then surfaced, allegedly from Gabbana, calling Chinese people “Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia” and, “I will say that the country of [poop emoji] is China.” But the brand’s official account claimed, “Our Instagram account has been hacked. So has the account of Stefano Gabbana.”
The brand said Wednesday that its legal team was investigating the alleged messages.
Either way, by Friday, Gabbana said in a video mea culpa, “We will never forget this experience and it will certainly never happen again. From the bottom of our hearts, we ask for forgiveness.”
The multimillion-dollar fashion show was scheduled for Wednesday and set to feature up to 500 separate looks, lasting an hour with several VIPs sitting in the front row.
But it was canceled, with various celebs pulling out and the China Bentley modeling agency stating 24 of their models would be boycotting, reported WWD.
Stores and online retailers in China have also pulled the brand’s items.
The design duo are no strangers to controversy. Gabbana was previously called out for calling Selena Gomez “so ugly,” and they’ve gotten in hot water for their comments deriding in-vitro fertilization and adoption by gay couples.
“We have always been in love with China,” Dolce said in Italian in a video uploaded to Chinese social-media site Weibo. “We love your culture and we certainly have much to learn. That is why we are sorry if we made mistakes in the way we expressed ourselves.”
The brouhaha began when the brand unveiled short videos to promote the fashion show. The promos feature a Chinese woman attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks and racy commentary, which many viewers called out as racist.
Private messages then surfaced, allegedly from Gabbana, calling Chinese people “Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia” and, “I will say that the country of [poop emoji] is China.” But the brand’s official account claimed, “Our Instagram account has been hacked. So has the account of Stefano Gabbana.”
The brand said Wednesday that its legal team was investigating the alleged messages.
Either way, by Friday, Gabbana said in a video mea culpa, “We will never forget this experience and it will certainly never happen again. From the bottom of our hearts, we ask for forgiveness.”
The multimillion-dollar fashion show was scheduled for Wednesday and set to feature up to 500 separate looks, lasting an hour with several VIPs sitting in the front row.
But it was canceled, with various celebs pulling out and the China Bentley modeling agency stating 24 of their models would be boycotting, reported WWD.
Stores and online retailers in China have also pulled the brand’s items.
The design duo are no strangers to controversy. Gabbana was previously called out for calling Selena Gomez “so ugly,” and they’ve gotten in hot water for their comments deriding in-vitro fertilization and adoption by gay couples.
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