'Dui bu qi': Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana apologise to the Chinese
Will three little words in Mandarin be enough to save the Italian luxury fashion label after their China public relations fiasco?
(Photo: Weibo)
Two days after the sudden cancellation of Dolce & Gabbana’s long-planned fashion show in Shanghai, the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have issued a video apology on Weibo, China’s most-used digital platform.
The designers offered their mea culpa in Italian, seeking "forgiveness" and apologising to "Chinese all over the world".
"This will never happen again," said Gabbana.
The duo then ended their video apology saying "dui bu qi" – Mandarin for "sorry".
Earlier this week, the brand released a series of adverts in which a Chinese woman struggles to eat pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks, sparking criticism on social media.
The blunder was compounded when screenshots were circulated online that appeared to show Gabbana making negative remarks about China.
The topic quickly went viral on Weibo, with over 120 million views, leading the brand to cancel their fashion show at the last minute.
Here is CNA Lifestyle's English translation of the video apology:
Domenico Dolce (DD): Over the last few days, we have reflected on our actions and how it has impacted the Chinese people, and we are deeply sorry. We come from an upbringing that taught us to be respectful of other cultures. We seek your forgiveness in our failure to understand your culture.
Stefano Gabbana (SG): We place great emphasis on this apology. We, hereby, offer our deepest apology to Chinese all over the world.
DD: We have always loved China. We have visited China many times and with each visit, we fall deeper in love with the Chinese culture. But of course, there is still a lot to learn. With regards to the earlier mistake we made, we are deeply sorry.
SG: We will never forget this experience and lesson. This will never happen again. We will do our level best in trying to better understand Chinese culture. Finally, we seek your understanding from the bottom of our hearts.
DD and SG: Sorry.
Will this be enough to appease the angry Chinese nation? Or is it too little, too late?
