AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
IT looks as though Dolce & Gabbana’s controversial 2018 #DGLovesChina campaign has not closed its chapter, four years on.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana filed a lawsuit of defamation in 2019 against industry watchdog Diet Prada in a civil court in Italy, accusing the account of hampering their revenue and other opportunities related to the campaign and fashion show through their reporting.
The defamation suit demands damages to the tune of 3 million for the Dolce & Gabbana brand and another 1 million for Stefano Gabbana himself.
The reporting on the account was done by Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler, who wrote about the brand’s self-imploding campaign in 2018, where the designers released a series of a racially insensitive video featuring a Chinese model attempting to eat Italian food with chopsticks.
The 2018 campaign video for Dolce & Gabbana. Picture: Instagram/diet_prada
Many fashion experts found the video to be arrogant and racist in a swift backlash, prompting the brand to delete the videos, but Gabbana didn’t stay quiet, responding to critics via DM on Instagram, insulting both China and Chinese people.
The messages were then sent to Diet Prada as screenshots, who released the images as a full report. Backlash also spread to Asian retailers pulling the 2018 collection from their shelves, worldwide protests, and a very damaged reputation.
The action prompted Dolce & Gabbana to claim that their Instagram account had been hacked, and released an apology video, but the damage had already been done – forcing them to cancel their fashion show at the last minute.
The Instagram post by Dolce & Gabana after the screenshots went viral. Picture: Instagram
Liu and Schuyler, who are also the main reporters behind the Diet Prada account, responded through a press release shared with Fashionisata, that they had filed a defense of freedom of speech, as well as releasing their own statements on the matter.
In Liu’s statement, the reporter noted his upbringing as an Asian-American, with its accompanying experiences of discrimination that has led to racism and violence, saying: “Growing up as a queer person of color in a predominantly white town, I’ve often found myself intimidated and at a loss for words when confronted with racism and bigotry”
“Having cultivated Diet Prada as a platform where stereotypes are laid bare and stories from the larger BIPOC community brought to the fore, is one o f the things I’m most proud of”.
“For two years, I’ve stayed silent and carried the burden of this lawsuit on my shoulders”, Liu’s statement read. “During this time, the world was forced to reckon with the systemic racism in the U.S. that led to the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black lives, as well as the xenophobia that further fueled Trump’s anti-Asian rhetoric in the age of COVID-19.”
Lindsey Schuyler wrote that as an ally to the Asian community, her discomfort was brought on by the misogynistic tone of Dolce & Gabbana’s messaging, as well as the off-putting display of the #DGLovesChina campaign.
“Discrediting and denouncing the press, charges of ‘fake news’, and a general threatening attitude towards journalists are a breeding ground for danger and a slippery slope towards extremism”, Schuyler said.
“Now is the time for public figures and brands to respond to public opinion and media critiques with progressive actions, not lawsuits”, she added.
Liu and Schuyler’s defense make the claims that due to Dolce & Gabbana’s international standing – which involves them operating across the world – neither the Italian company nor the designers themselves have any right to claim for damages.
The defense further explains that the inciting event took place in China, and that Diet Prada’s main audience is based in the United States and other English-speaking nations, thus disputing their right for the company to be suing them in their home country of Italy rather than in either the location of the incident or the location of Diet Prada’s location.
“In the outpouring of support for these communities being targeted, we all continue to see the power of solidarity and speaking truth to power”, Liu said in his statement.
“Diet Prada will continue to be a platform to elevate these crucial issues.”
Fashionista, the publication that published the lawsuit, have reached out to Dolce & Gabbana for comment.
