Dolce & Gabbana’s Shanghai show is cancelled amid accusations of racism in ‘Chinese chopsticks’ ad campaign
Dolce & Gabbana’s annual show, slated for Wednesday, November 21, has been cancelled by Shanghai’s authorities.
The cancellation was provoked by Dolce & Gabbana’s recent social media campaign promoting The Great Show, which was considered by some to be racist towards China.
With hashtags #DGLovesChina and #DGTheGreatShow, the campaign includes a series of oriental culture-inspired photographs and videos featuring an Asian model dressed up in the brand’s garments and accessories and attempting to use chopsticks to eat Italian food such as pizza cannoli and spaghetti.
Social media users have commented that the imagery used in the campaign is based on Chinese stereotypes, and reflects Dolce & Gabbana’s lack of understanding of Chinese culture.
The campaign was taken down from Weibo after a significant number of messages protesting against it were posted.
The incident was further exacerbated by remarks on the Instagram account of Dolce & Gabbana’s designer, Stefano Gabbana: “It [the campaign] was deleted from Chinese social media because my office is stupid as the superiority of the Chinese … it was by my will I never cancelled the post”.
Later, Dolce & Gabbana claimed on Instagram that both the brand’s and the designer’s accounts had been hacked.
A handful of celebrities and models – including TF Boys, Li Bingbing and Chen Kun – who had been expected to attend the Dolce & Gabbana show, publicly announced that they no longer wished to attend.
The show has now been cancelled by Shanghai officials.
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The fashion house has whipped up a storm in China after running ads showing a Chinese woman being told how to use chopsticks to eat Italian food