By Li Yue
Italian luxury brand Dolce and Gabbana continues to face a backlash over its controversial ad campaign as China’s major retailers removed the company’s products from their shopping websites.
Dolce & Gabbana came under fire after its recent campaign videos posted online were deemed racist and insulting to China. Subsequent insulting comments alleged to have been made by the company’s co-founder and designer Stefano Gabbana also went viral. He has however denied posting the comments, claiming his Instagram account was hacked.
Celebrities and models pulled out from participating in the Shanghai show which was scheduled for Wednesday, forcing D&G to cancel it. The brand’s ambassador in China, singer-actor Wang Junkai and ambassador in the Asia-Pacific region, actress Diliraba Dilmurat also broke ties with D&G.
In response to the criticism, Stefano Gabbana again made a statement on his Instagram. However, his statement has only triggered new outrage, with many people saying it lacked sincerity. #DG designer’s response# are now trending hashtags on China’s social media Weibo.
Dolce & Gabbana products have been removed from the websites of China’s three major e-commerce giants – Tmall (subsidiary of Alibaba), Jingdong and Suning. Other overseas online platforms and luxury online shops like NetEase Kaola, vipshop, xiaohongshu have followed suit. The brand’s duty-free shop at Hainan Meilan Airport is also closed. Dolce & Gabbana’s products are only available on its China official website and Amazon China.
DG Group has previously stated that it is actively expanding overseas markets. One of the strategies is to conduct high-end fashion roving shows around the world to expand its brand influence and deepen contact with target consumers. The company’s “The Great Show” in Shanghai, which was canceled yesterday, is known as its largest show in the Asia-Pacific region.
This is not the first scandal that Dolce & Gabbana has been faced with. The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System in China shows that Dolce & Gabbana was fined 346 500 yuan (nearly 50 000 dollars) for defective goods, the company has also been embroiled in a plagiarism scandal in the past.
Some e-commerce industry experts speculate that in addition to the impact faced online, brand agents and 58 Dolce & Gabbana local stores may also suffer from this negative event.
