When Dolce & Gabbana’s Shanghai Show Collapsed in Shame

November 21, 2018 - The night global fashion learned a hard lesson in cultural respect.

It was supposed to be a celebration of Italian luxury in China’s fashion capital. Dolce & Gabbana had planned a 500-look spectacular at the Shanghai Expo Center, an opulent display meant to cement its dominance in the Chinese luxury market. Instead, the night turned into one of the biggest PR disasters in modern fashion history.

Just days before the show, the brand released a series of short promotional videos titled “Eating with Chopsticks.” They featured a Chinese model attempting to eat oversized Italian dishes, pizza, cannoli, and spaghetti, with chopsticks, narrated in a patronizing tone that many Chinese viewers found offensive. Within hours, the videos went viral for all the wrong reasons. Social media users condemned them as racist, outdated, and ignorant of Chinese culture.

As backlash built, screenshots of private Instagram messages allegedly written by co-founder Stefano Gabbana surfaced - messages that mocked the criticism and included derogatory remarks about China. Though the designer later claimed his account had been hacked, the damage was done. Celebrities, models, and high-profile guests announced boycotts, and Chinese authorities revoked the show’s permits at the last minute. By evening, Dolce & Gabbana’s grand “Great Show” was officially canceled.

The fallout was immediate and severe. Major Chinese e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com removed D&G products from their platforms. Department stores in Hong Kong and Beijing stopped carrying the brand, while public sentiment on Weibo - a platform central to Chinese consumer culture turned decisively against the label.

The incident reshaped the playbook of luxury communication in the globalization era. It underscored that cultural literacy is now a determinant of brand equity, where prestige derives not only from exclusivity but from the ability to resonate ethically and emotionally across cultures. In essence, the Dolce & Gabbana case became a living demonstration of a new truth in global branding: in the digital age, misalignment between cultural sensitivity and corporate expression no longer results in temporary backlash, but in systemic brand erosion.

Seven years on, the Shanghai debacle still stands as a milestone in fashion’s cultural awakening. It forced brands to rethink their storytelling beyond aesthetics and opulence - to understand respect, representation, and responsibility as essential elements of luxury itself.