Dior takes down IG post after being accused of mocking Asians with "slanted eye" pose

French Maison Dior has deleted a post on its Instagram page after it was accused of racism over a photo of an Asian model who was seen pulling her eye up to show off her make up. The move was construed as mimicking the "slanted eye" pose which is typically derogatory towards Asians. 

Dior was attempting to advertise its Dior Beauty Mitzah collection in the Instagram post. The collection was created by Peter Phillips Makeup and the post was meant to have its models show off the looks. 

In its caption, Dior talked about the sensuality of the leopard motif that is "perpetually" associated with Mizza Bricard, Monsieur Dior's enigmatic muse. 

Dior added that the look was conveyed through smoldering colors and accented with accessories. 

The post was quickly taken down after users began pointing out that the model's pose was a racist gesture. Dior, however, did not address concerns publicly. 

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However, netizens took to social media to call out the brand with many pointing out that this was not the first time that the brand has been embroiled in a controversy regarding Asians. 

Just last year, Dior triggered public outcry in China after introducing a mid-length pleated skirt, which was said to resemble an ancient Chinese horse-face skirt.

Also known as "ma mian qun", the ancient skirt dates back to the 10th century Song dynasty and was commonly worn by women during the Ming and Qing dynasties. An opinion piece on People.cn has accused that the Dior skirt is similar to the Chinese horse-face skirt, “When many details are the same, why is it shamelessly called a ‘new design’ and ‘hallmark Dior silhouette’?” questioned the commentary published by People.cn on 16 July 2022.  

The commentary also explained that China has left many cultural heritages over the past 5,000 years of history, “Many designers who use Chinese elements will admit that their design inspiration comes from classic works in traditional Chinese culture. Chinese culture belongs to China as well as the world. We support learning from Chinese culture to enrich human life,” said the commentary.“Dior is a big brand. To cherish its feathers, it should be more rigorous in both clothing design and marketing, and it should not do things that go against the law and reason,” the commentary read.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Dior for a comment. 

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