Chinese online retailers have pulled Dolce & Gabbana products after the Italian fashion house was hit by a fast-moving backlash over an advertising campaign that drew accusations of racism and disrespect toward China.
The controversy began with a set of ads promoting a Shanghai fashion show that was later canceled. In the campaign, a Chinese woman is shown struggling to eat spaghetti and pizza with chopsticks, a scene that triggered anger on social media and among public figures.
The situation worsened when screenshots circulated online of a private Instagram exchange in which designer Stefano Gabbana appeared to refer to China as “China Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia” and used a smiling poo emoji. Dolce & Gabbana said Gabbana’s account had been hacked.
As criticism intensified, several Chinese platforms moved to distance themselves from the brand. Kaola, the e-commerce arm of NetEase Inc, confirmed it had removed Dolce & Gabbana products. Secoo also said it had taken down the label’s listings on Wednesday evening.
Checks on Thursday showed that pages previously linking to Dolce & Gabbana items on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc were no longer available, and searches for the brand returned no results. Yoox Net-A-Porter, owned by Richemont, also no longer showed the label’s products on its China platforms.
Alibaba, JD.com and Yoox Net-A-Porter did not comment on the removals. Dolce & Gabbana also did not respond to the retailers’ actions.
Backlash spreads beyond e-commerce ¶
The brand apologised on Weibo after the campaign spread widely on the platform, which functions as China’s equivalent of Twitter. But the apology did little to stop the reaction.
Actor Zhang Ziyi criticised the company, while singer Wang Junkai said he had ended his ambassador agreement with the brand. An airport duty-free shop in Haikou said on Weibo that it had removed all Dolce & Gabbana products from its shelves.
The Communist Party Youth League, the youth wing of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, said companies operating in China should respect the country and its people.
The episode was not Dolce & Gabbana’s first clash with Chinese consumers. In 2017, the brand faced criticism on social media over another advertising series that portrayed the grittier side of Chinese life.
The company is privately held and does not publish earnings or disclose how much revenue it makes in China. Analysts said the latest uproar could still hurt sales, especially as Chinese shoppers become more selective and have more luxury options at home.
Luxury marketing consultant Sindy Liu said Chinese consumers are now more informed and less forgiving of cultural mistakes. “It’s a different market now – Chinese customers are more savvy, and there’s so much more choice,” she said. “A lot of western brands don’t really understand China that well when it comes to cultural sensitivities. But most brands are quite careful, they don’t do things that are humorous.”
Fashion houses have seen similar controversies turn costly before. Christian Dior, now fully part of LVMH, fired designer John Galliano in 2011 after a video surfaced showing him hurling anti-Semitic abuse at people in a Paris bar.
