The epilogue took place today with the cancellation of an important fashion show of the Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana which was supposed to take place at the Shanghai Expo Centre. The story, however, began on Monday with the online diffusion by Dolce & Gabbana of three videos depicting an Asian model intent on eating Italian food - from pizza to spaghetti with tomato sauce and Sicilian cannoli - with typical Asian chopsticks.
The videos were accompanied by the hashtags #DGLovesChina and #DGTheGreatShow and according to the Italian fashion house were aimed at promoting the Shanghai show. The reaction of the Chinese public was diametrically opposed, accusing the Italians of presenting a stereotyped vision of China.
In particular, the video in which the model tries to eat the Sicilian cannoli has also been accused of sexism: a male voice-over asks: "Is it too big for you?". The controversy did not take long and caused the three videos to be removed from Weibo, a very popular social media in China, while they are still visible on Instagram and Youtube. A climax of rising tension that led to the cancellation of the fashion show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvSVYphuDYo&fbclid=IwAR1THDAuCXOcU1KrNJb7RJ21GdAkwGDsiqDjJroCvsXqbZLnc9vD6dqkWWw
Above all, a popular Instagram account, DietPrada, harshly criticized the promotional campaign of the new show, and published the series of screenshots of a private conversation that took place between Michaela Tranova, DietPrada collaborator, and Stefano Gabbana. Tranova had asked Gabbana about the videos and had received messages in response insulting the Chinese division of his company for deleting the videos from Chinese social networks, and China in general.
Stefano Gabbana is not new to heavy social clashes, he often shows himself without filters and sharp in his comments, but in this case he defends himself by stating that the videos had been imagined as a tribute to China and that he wanted to show its most peculiar characteristics: "if the Chinese are offended, it is they who feel inferior, and not Dolce & Gabbana who are racist”, reads the Instagram messages again.
Dolce & Gabbana's response turned out to be an indictment of hackers: “Our Instagram account has been hacked. And also Stefano Gabbana's account. Our legal department is urgently investigating. We are very sorry for any suffering caused by these unauthorized posts. We have nothing but respect for China and for the Chinese people,” reads the Dolce & Gabbana Twitter account, in a message that also appeared in Chinese.
- Dolce & Gabbana (@dolcegabbana) November 21, 2018
Meanwhile, Chinese celebrities have lined up against the Italian signature: "Our motherland is more important than anything else, we appreciate the strength and beauty of our cultural heritage," said the management of Wang Junkai, member of the boyband TFBoys, announcing his withdrawal from the event. The actress Li Bingbing, the actor Talu Wang and the Chinese Youth League are on the same line: “Foreign companies operating in China should respect China and the Chinese”.
Regarding the cancellation of the fashion show, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana explained: “What happened today is really unpleasant, not only for us, but for all those who worked day and night to bring this project to life. Our dream was to create an event in Shanghai that was a tribute to China, that told our story and our vision".
Is it so difficult to communicate in correct and pleasant Italian? For journalists, knowledge of the Italian language is the essence of their mission and profession as communicators. So why must we readers be tortured by the locution "regarding"? It's so hard to replace it with "about", "as to", "about", etc. ?