Stefano Gabbana (left) and Domenico Dolce (right)

Products of Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana were taken out of shop shelves and e-commerce sites in China as consumers started boycotting the firm after it posted a short video deemed racially offensive. The controversy started as the Italian fashion brand published a video on the Chinese social media site Weibo showing a Chinese model using chopsticks to try to eat pizza, cannoli and spaghetti. Weibo users accused the label of trivializing China’s culture and depicting Chinese women in a racist way. The video was taken down within 24 hours but it had already been shared widely on social media, where the hashtag #BoycottDolce began to circulate.

A search of D&G on Taobao.com and Tmall.com, China’s largest online retailer, failed to come up with any results from the brand. The world’s biggest online luxury goods retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter, and Hong Kong-based luxury department store operator Lane Crawford, have joined Chinese retailers in dropping Dolce & Gabbana products.

The accusations of racism and racial stereotyping intensified after a conversation on Instagram between Stefano Gabbana and the fashion writer Michaela Phuong in which Gabbana appeared to defend the campaign and make derogatory comments about China and Chinese commenters. Next, D&G claimed its internet accounts had been hacked and asserted: “We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China.”

A planned catwalk show in Shanghai was canceled as one participant after another withdrew, including TFBoys singer Wang Junkai. The Communist Youth League posted on its Weibo account: “foreign companies operating in China should respect China and respect Chinese people”. But the mere cancelation of the fashion show did not satisfy Chinese consumers. The controversy could result in a financial blow to the company, which has shops in 25 cities in China. In 2007, the label was openly criticized for adverts which appeared to depict violence against women and romanticizing slavery.

“This incident is not a diplomatic issue essentially and the Chinese side does not wish to escalate it into one,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said. “Instead of asking the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, it is better to ask the ordinary people in China to see how they view this issue.” The founders of the Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana have issued an apology to the Chinese people in a video released on November 23. “We offer our sincerest apologies to Chinese people worldwide,” said Gabbana. Dolce continued: “We hope our misunderstanding of Chinese culture can be forgiven. We’ve always been very crazy about China, we’ve visited it a lot. We’ve been to many cities. We love your culture.” The video ended with the pair saying the single word “sorry” in Mandarin. “It’s the kiss of death for Dolce & Gabbana,” said Shaun Rein, Founder and Managing Director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai. Rein added it is a big mistake when Westerners come up with creative content but don’t understand how it will be received by Chinese consumers.