Dolce & Gabbana cancels China show amid 'racist' ad controversy

Written by Stephy Chung, CNN, Oscar Holland, CNN

Contributors Serenitie Wang, CNN

Dolce & Gabbana was just hours away from welcoming guests to a huge fashion show in China. Now, amid accusations of racism, the event has been postponed, according to the luxury brand's official Weibo account.

The fashion house has found itself embroiled in controversy over a series of videos released on social media. By the time the postponement was announced, a number of celebrity invitees had already said they would not be attending the show, which was due to take place in Shanghai Wednesday evening.

Three 40-second spots, aired on the Italian brand's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter profiles, as well as its Weibo account in China, show an Asian model struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks. The videos were created to promote "The Great Show," which is billed by the fashion house as a "tribute to China."

The first "episode," published Sunday, features a model in a sequined red dress attempting to eat an entire pizza. She prods the pizza with chopsticks to the sound of stereotypical Chinese music, before a narrator offers seemingly patronizing advice such as "don't attempt to use the chopsticks as knives" and "just use your chopsticks like pliers."

In the second and third episodes, the same model attempts to eat a cannoli and a bowl of spaghetti. The narrator seems to mispronounce the brand's name, with some interpreting this as mocking the way Chinese people say "Dolce & Gabbana."

What was, perhaps, an innocent attempt to play on Chinese culture has infuriated some social media users. The topic was trending on Weibo hours before the show was due to start.

A model is seen eating pizza with chopsticks in one of three videos posted on social media by Dolce & Gabbana. Credit: Dolce & Gabbana

In a post being shared online, an account purporting to be University of California student Coco Qiu, describes the video series as "extremely racist" and created with the "intention to spark public attention, and perhaps rage, for the purpose of advertisement and profits." The post describes the move as "both pitiful and disrespectful."

Some segments of Chinese social media reacted in good humor to the controversy. A parody video, which shows a Caucasian man attempting to eat soup with a knife, has been widely circulated on Weibo.

A WeChat post shared by the company said that there would be "a shining runway, modern style and glamorous superstars." But a number of celebrities announced that they would withdraw from the event.

An agent of singer Karry Wang, a Dolce & Gabbana "brand ambassador," had confirmed that the star would not be attending the show. The modeling agency China Bentley also announced that 24 of its models were pulling out over the controversy.

Social media outcry was further exacerbated by a screen capture of racist comments alleged to have been made by D&G co-founder, Stefano Gabbana, in a direct message on Instagram. Both Gabbana and the luxury brand have since posted messages saying that their accounts had been hacked, with the Italian designer pasting the words "not me" over images of the alleged exchange.

"We are very sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorized posts," the accompanying message reads. "We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China."

Models and staff from the event have since responded by posting images of their event badges with "not me" written in red capital letters.

It is not the first time that the brand has courted controversy in Asia. In 2013, over 1,000 protestors descended on one of Dolce & Gabbana's Hong Kong stores after security guards attempted to stop locals -- but not customers from overseas or mainland China -- from taking photographs. The brand later apologized over the row.

Dolce & Gabbana did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.

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