The history of the Italian house Dolce & Gabbana seems to be getting more and more bitter. The creativity of the designers Stefano and Domenico and their ability to attract the entire celebrity universe, even having them parade in the presentations of their collections, seems to have no limits. Until now? China has stood on a path that has known how to combine exuberant haute couture and prêt-à-porter with the mastery of provocation and more or less meditated scandal.
Will Shanghai be the Waterloo of these fashion napoleons?
Never a controversy linked to Dolce & Gabbana had ended with the suspension of a parade. It has happened with what was scheduled to happen in the iconic city of Shanghai and because of the controversy that some would call nationalist and others (many) racist, around some videos on the brand's Instagram profile that humorously advertised the event.
In them, a highly dressed Chinese model of the brand was busy enjoying a pizza or a cannolo, obvious references to Italian gastronomy, with the help of only a few chopsticks. From the difficulty (try it at home) arose the comedy... or the offense. See and judge.
The case (or thing) worsened after the dissemination of screenshots of an alleged tirade on Instagram between Stefano Gabbana and a follower, in which the latter would use the smiling poop emoticon to insult China. As the firm later posted on this social network, this intervention was false and the result of an account hack: "We regret the inconvenience caused by these unauthorized publications. We only have respect for China and the Chinese people," the brand reported.
But as has been said, it is not the first time that the Italian house has been involved in a controversy, today described as racist, but on more than one occasion pointed out as violent and, above all, macho (beyond his support for Maluma). This is how it happened, in 2006 with his campaign for the autumn-winter 2006 men's collection, photographed by Steven Meisel, in which some saw an impudent glorification of murder and Dolce & Gabbana the homage to the paintings of Delacroix and David.
An aesthetic that they continued to push to the abyss the following year with an image of Steven Klein that even then, and seen from a post-lamanada present, was seen as a stylization of a gang rape.
Years later, the series of costumbrist images of her friend Madonna, portrayed by Klein in beautiful neorealist black and white, added fuel to the possible traditional consideration of women as a beautiful housewife. . and nothing more.
Beyond fashion and its marketing, designers have been involved in other controversies in plain clothes. Like the harsh accusation of tax evasion by the Italian tax authorities, which first ended in a conviction (paying 343 million euros and jail time) and years later, in 2014, in a verdict of not guilty.
But more scandalous was the declaration of the designers, creative and sentimental couple, as well as gay icons, against the adoption of children or surrogate parenthood by homosexuals. A position that they qualified ("It was never our intention to judge the choice of other people. We believe in freedom and in love"), but which sparked a boycott promoted by Elton John and to which names such as Ricky Martin or Martina Navratilova joined.
Boycott is the word the brand has had to hear the most lately. For example, when they themselves broke the fashion closure to dress Melania Trump once she became first lady. The decision aroused the opposition of many of his fans, famous or not, which was even shown in one of his shows, when the rapper Raury protested against the signature while walking down his catwalk.
Stefano Dolce seems the more mouthy of the designer couple. He has been the protagonist of other tirades on social networks, not so much for what he posts on his Instagram as for the comments he leaves on others he follows.
This is what happened when he called Selena Gomez "ugly" (depending on tastes, colors) in a post on The Catwalk Italia account, or said "no" to a Saint Laurent look by Kate Moss. In a universe that rewards indiscriminate likes before criticism (directly despised as a hater), these events go viral. Especially when the firm makes mistakes as silly as graffitiing one of its sneakers with the bodyshaming phrase "I'm thin and pretty."
But as he himself replied to Miley Cyrus in another scandalous anti-Trump dialogue: "We are Italian and we don't care about politics, let alone American politics! We make dresses, and if you think that with a publication you are doing politics you are just ignorant. We don't need your posts or comments so next time please ignore us! #boycott dolce gabbana."
Could you answer the same to the Chinese giant today? In a firm that likes to play with the limits of its aesthetic proposals, it seems that the Chinese giant has choked on them. Eaten or not with chopsticks.
