D&G founders apologize in video

Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana posted an apology video on social media platform Weibo on Friday afternoon after insulting comments posted on designer Stefano Gabbana’s Instagram account on Wednesday. The comments, about China and Chinese people, incited public outrage nationwide.

The video, “Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana Apologize”, features the two company founders, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, facing the camera and speaking in Italian, with Chinese subtitles.

Dolce says: “Over the past few days we have thought long and hard with great sadness about everything that has happened and what we have caused in your country. And we are very sorry. Our families have always taught us to respect the various cultures in the world and this is why we want to ask for your forgiveness for making mistakes in interpreting yours.”

Gabbana adds: “We will never forget this experience and the lessons, and it will certainly never happen again. In fact we will work to do things better. We will respect the Chinese culture in every way possible. From the bottom of our hearts, we ask for your forgiveness.”

The founders conclude by together saying meaning sorry, in Chinese.

A Dolce & Gabbana public relations officer refused to comment when asked by China Daily about the company’s earlier allegation that their Instagram accounts were hacked.

The company’s woes started on Sunday, when it posted a video that appeared to show a Chinese model awkwardly using chopsticks to eat Western food.

Many comments under D&G’s Weibo post expressed contempt for the apology. Some said the founders looked insincere, peeking at the teleprompter or notes. Comments included “it’s too late to apologize” and “apology not accepted”. The most liked comment, with over 200,000 likes, was by Weibo user LIMYOONA Xiaogongju, who said the apology “is neither on Instagram nor Twitter”.

The brand later published it on its YouTube, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

On Thursday, after celebrities and models refused to attend D&G’s The Great Show and its Wednesday cancellation, D&G published a statement on Instagram and Twitter calling the incident “unfortunate” and thanking “friends and guests”.

When asked about the incident, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said, “This is not a diplomatic issue, nor do we hope it will escalate into a diplomatic one”. He suggested journalists should ask the Chinese people instead.

All major Chinese e-commerce platforms have removed D&G products and content. Hong Kongbased Lane Crawford group said it is removing all D&G products from its stores online and in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Several foreign e-commerce websites, including the Italian company Net-aPorter, have removed D&G items from Chinese mainland and Hong Kong portals.