Dolce&Gabbana, eight months after the scandal: Europe forgives but China doesn’t forget

Fashion forgets? A Chinese model dressed in an Italian design, eating food with chopsticks. This campaign, apparently innocent, unleashed one of the biggest polemics in the fashion world. Eight months later, has Dolce&Gabbana overcomed the crisis?

After the release of the images last November, the situation turned even worse after a private Instagram conversation of Stefano Gabanna talking badly about the Asian country saw the light.

After that Dolce&Gabbana was accused of racism and boycotted by brands, consumers and influencers all over the world. As a matter of fact, even the Chinese government took part in the scandal, forcing the company to cancel a fashion show programed in Shanghai only days after.

In Europe, ecommerce and department stores which promised not to commercialize the brand again have taken a step back

Eight months after the polemics, the waters seem more calmed for the Italian company, that fights to clean its image and recover its results, in downfall due to the scandal. But, have the brands forgotten its promise to boycott?

In Europe, online distributors that promised not commercialize the brand’s items again, have taken a step back. Net-a-Porter or Farfetch after the polemic started selling the Italian fashion house garments again.

However, China still hasn’t forgiven the Italian designers. Groups such as Tmall, Vip.com or JD.com stopped commercializing Dolce&Gabbana in its platforms. Even some search engines answer with error after typing the brand’s name.

The group bills one third of its sales in the Asian country 

According to the Luxury China 2019 report created by Garnet L2, the impact of the crisis in the reputation of the group remains in the country, a market where the group invoices approximately one third of its sales.  

The company has also diminished the engagement with its followers in social network in the country after last November, counting with around 40,000 interactions in past October and not reaching one thousand since the scandal.