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Yesterday, Xiang Kai, a Shanghai-based director and writer, burned more than $ 20,000 worth of Dolce & Gabbana products, including coats, a vest, and bags. A former fan of the brand, he has also thrown his shoes and his brand watches in the trash.
"The purpose of burning my clothes is to awaken the Chinese people and the Chinese nation," said Xiang, who has posted photos of his flaming products online. "Some people say you've wasted a lot of money. I am ready to squander this money for the dignity of the nation. "
He was one of the incalculable number of people who rebelled against the Italian fashion brand that built its reputation on the ability to make the weeds of Sicilian widows sexy. Earlier this week, the company released video clips widely seen as racist, inspiring old stereotypes (a Chinese dummy learning to eat spaghetti, pizzas, and a cannoli with chopsticks) before an extravagance planned a show in Shanghai. Stefano Gabbana, a co-directing companyfounder and designer, aHe seems to have had an insulting criticism (including suggesting that the Chinese eat dogs) with a review on Instagram. Mr. Gabbana stated that his account had been hacked.
One day, this ever-growing debacle could form the body of a new industry fable, endowed with a morality on the dangers of indiscriminate direct communication, the rapid retribution of the crowd and the risks of cultural arrogance. But currently, the most striking revelation of the story is what happens when a story of intimidation on the online playground meets the economic strength of the strongest autocratic luxury market.
Dominoes are starting to fall. The pigeons come home to perch. The rats leave the ship sinking. You become a real paragon of clichés! And an edifying story. After all, in the four days that followed, the brand wasted no time:
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Was forced to cancel the show;
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Was excoriated by Chinese celebrities and models dubbed into the show;
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Made the subject of consumer videos that burn, destroy or otherwise renounce their Dolce products;
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If their physical locations had been altered, the brand's storefronts were covered with "No Me" posters mocking Mr. Gabbana's response to the scandal;
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Disappeared from the Chinese giant e-tail Alibaba's TMall platform site, as well as jd.com, secoo.com and Lane Crawford's department store, which stated that customers had returned the brand's products;
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Excoriated in the fashion press and communities of fashion enthusiasts, with a particularly passionate coverage from the fashion watch dog, Diet Prada;
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And more and more abandoned by its European and American supporters, including the influencers that the brand has graciously spent in recent years.
Net-a-Porter, the London-based luxury online retailer owned by Richemont, has removed all Dolce products from its Chinese website. Lucky Blue Smith, a model / influential with 3.2 million subscribers on Instagram who became a staple of the millennium Dolce, posted on her account a note explaining her decision not to participate in the series that said in particular: "We are all children of gods and we should all. Treat EVERYONE, EVERY CULTURE with respect. I'll be back in China soon – I love you all very much.
And apparently fearing damage by association, Italian brand MaxMara made a proactive statement Thursday on its WeChat account, stating, "China, you are the best! I love you, homeland!
Various fashion brands have already been accused of cultural errors or insults. Australians blamed Chanel for selling a luxury boomerang. Zara has been accused of using Nazi and alt-right hate symbolism on her products. This week again, Dior was criticized for its commercials starring Jennifer Lawrence while claiming to celebrate Mexican heritage. Nevertheless, the Dolce incident is the first time that this type of missteps has such a global impact.
The spokespeople for Secoo and Net-a-Porter could not remember one or the other company that had already abandoned a trademark for such reasons. As Angelica Cheung, editor-in-chief of Vogue China, wrote in an e-mail: "This case is a wake-up call: a population of 1.4 billion people is a huge consumer power, but if you do not do well, hundreds of millions of people expressing outrage on social media is a powerful force, hard to ignore. "
Dolce & Gabbana issued three statements, claiming first that his accounts had been hacked and then offering words of support to people who worked on the canceled show and declarations of love for China. But it was not until the end of the week that the founders officially apologized in a video in Mandarin. They seemed to have underestimated the importance of Chinese national identity while overestimating their place in the broader fashion ecosystem.
"The consumer is now more selfish in thinking that China has a rich history and culture and is now a global power.We know that we are your most important customer and that you must respect them", said Ben Cavender, senior analyst. at China Market Research, a Shanghai-based consulting firm. According to the Boston Consulting Group, the Chinese Consumers are currently responsible for 32% of luxury goods sales worldwide, a figure that is expected to rise to 40% by 2024. At this point, the Chinese will drive 75% of the growth of the global market.
The excuse of hacking, which could have been accepted at first as a way to join the brand, had no influence, in part because Mr. Gabbana has always criticized any criticism of the brand on his account Instagram. Although the brand traditionally seemed insensitive to such controversies – in fact, it appeared to be politically incorrect – this time it is different.
In the eyes of many members of the international community, Mr. Gabbana became the creator who cried wolf. You can not take everyone from Selena Gomez to gay parents with bluster and venom, then says you've been hacked and expect to be believed.
Susie Bubble, a London-based critic, street-style star and first-rate regular, was posted to 440,000 Instagram followers, "this is another example of a creative director misguided by the diva in the upper echelons of the world." 'industry that weighs to vomit on social media in a reckless way that affects a billion dollar company with thousands of employees as well as countless parts of the business. industry allegedly flown to Shanghai for what was supposed to be celebrity / media-driven extravagance. "
Estelle Chen, the Victoria's Secret model, had a similar reaction by writing: "By saying that your accounts (personal and official: Dolce & Gabbana) have been hacked, it shows how cowardly you are. Could you please at least take responsibility for your behavior? "
The antecedents of insensitivity of the mark did not help. Dolce has been called in recent years for tagging a pair of "slave sandal" shoes (in 2016, they later changed the name to "more harmless flat sandal") and featuring earrings that looked like Blackamoor heads. in a 2012 collection. They have also banned a number of critics from participating in shows (the Times has not been invited to a Dolce show for more than a decade; the Women's Wear Daily, W magazine, Italian Vogue and Vanity Fair were also rejected on several occasions).
Dolce & Gabbana is also the only major Italian brand to have refused to join Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiano, the leading Italian fashion organization and its lobby group, and is not included in the official program of Milan Fashion Week. Therefore, Carlo Capasa, president of the Camera della Moda, who has always been fiercely protective of Italian brands and industry and who could have expected to defend the brand, simply stated that He could not make any statement about the situation because Dolce was not a member.
The Chinese government, however, appears to be taking steps to mitigate the reaction. Asked about the controversy, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "The Chinese side does not want this case to become a diplomatic matter."
Chinese state media has also sought to limit the fallout. Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, called on consumers to "be more open-minded".
"Dolce & Gabbana was undoubtedly wrong, but sins do not mean death," Hu wrote Friday on his Weibo account.
Mr. Cavender, the analyst, was not so sure. "The reality is that it will probably kill growth for them," he said. The last time a consumer boycott of this magnitude broke out in China took place in 2017 following South Korea's adoption of a US missile defense system that, according to China , could be used to spy on his territory. At the time, protesters besieged branches of Lotte Mart, a South Korean supermarket chain. This year, all of its stores in China have been closed.
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