Dior faces criticism in China for 'smear' of Chinese women and culture

French fashion brand Dior has come under attack from Chinese social media users as an image of a Chinese model with dark skin dressed in traditional attire holding a Dior bag makes its rounds in the market. While some claimed the brand to be “smearing” the image of Chinese women, others have said the photo depicts an image which is different from what a typical standard of beauty in China is - fair skin and large eyes.

Despite the image being taken by famous Chinese fashion photographer, Chen Man, Dior has since removed the image on social media without an explanation. Understandably, the luxury brand has taken the move to prevent from further offending a market which is one of the biggest global contributors to the world of luxury.

According to SCMP, currently China accounts for more than a third of global luxury goods and this is only expected to grow as more citizens enter the upper-middle class income group.

An article by Global Times said that the Dior controversy first started when it was put on display in Shanghai last Friday. This was then followed by  post on China Women's News newspaper which claimed Dior’s images show an intention to smear the image of Chinese women and distort culture.

Dior is certainly not the first brand to come under fire from Chinese consumers. D&G caused a furore online in 2018 when its "DG Loves China" campaign showed a woman eating large plates of pizza and spaghetti with a pair of chopsticks while a male voiceover tells her what to do. The video was produced to promote its runway show in Shanghai which eventually got canned after Chinese celebrities including Zhang Ziyi, Chen Kun and Li Bingbing declined to attend. Tmall, JD.com, Vipshop and Yanxuan also pulled D&G products off their sites.

In June, Hong Kong singer Karen Mok apologised for wearing an outfit by Italian luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) in a music video for the song titled "Woman for all seasons" in her new album. According to multiple media reports, the apology came shortly after she was criticised by Chinese netizens for supporting the brand which was accused of racism in 2018.

In addition, Mok also reportedly used the photo of her in a D&G robe as her profile picture on Weibo. The picture has since been updated and Mok has also removed photos of her wearing the outfit from her social media accounts, along with the music video. Meanwhile, her agency 莫家寶貝工作室 (Moka Bye Baby Workshop) has also apologised on its Weibo account, explaining that it has overlooked the issues revolving around D&G and no stringent checks were done on behalf of Mok.

Power up your PR and communications efforts today with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's PR Asia Week on 1 and 2 December. Learn ways to build an evidence-based practice, up the ante on your strategies, and be head and shoulders above your competition. Click here to register today! 

Related articles:
HK singer Karen Mok cops flak from Chinese fans for wearing D&G
Christian Dior rolls out pop-up store in KLIA