Post Backlash, Versace Loses A Brand Ambassador But Issues An Apology To Its Chinese Consumers

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Last year, Dolce & Gabbanna provoked outrage in China and a subsequent boycott of its products over an advertisement that showed a Chinese model struggling to eat spaghetti and pizza with chopsticks. Dolce & Gabbana was accused of racism and later issued an apology. A year later, fashion giant Versace, also received backlash on social media in China. The reason was that Versace's T-shirt listed Hong Kong and Macau as countries rather than cities. Both Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of China.

Post the controversy, Chinese actress and the brand ambassador of Versace from China, Yang Mi said she will end the cooperation with the luxury fashion label after a controversy erupted online over claims that its T-shirt designs defied the "One China" policy. As per the statement issued on the official Weibo account of Jiaxing Xingguang, the actress's studio, Yang said Versace has harmed China's sovereign and territorial integrity. The controversy has gained more attention and hit the sentiments due to anti-Beijing protests in the city.

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“I am deeply sorry for the unfortunate recent error that was made by our Company and that is being currently discussed on various social media channels. Never have I wanted to disrespect China’s National Sovereignty and this is why I wanted to personally apologize for such inaccuracy and for any distress that it might have caused.” @donatella_versace

A post shared by Donatella Versace (@donatella_versace) on Aug 11, 2019 at 2:38am PDT

Versace took to Twitter and their official Weibo account to apologise. In a post on Weibo, the label stated that they have stopped selling and destroyed the T-shirts as of 24th July. Versace's artistic director, Donatella Versace even shared a personal and public apology on her Instagram account.

However, not just Versace, Coach and Givenchy also had to serve an apology for the similar reason. Coach and Givenchy listed special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate nations. However, both the brands apologised too.