From Their Fashion, It’s Clear That Bollywood Has Forgotten The Racism Of Dolce & Gabbana. Let’s Talk About It!
It is true that fashion moves on faster than a woman coming back from a crappy first date. The industry is quick to forgive and forget gross mistakes made by brands, celebrities or designers. Our outrage is not even able to survive the 24-hour news cycle and is forgotten by the next day’s brunch. While forgetting and moving on is usually the norm, does it also make it right? We think not. We don’t believe in holding grudges for too long, but for some cases, doing so can help bring about real change. One such brand that has misused fashion’s short-lived memory is Dolce & Gabbana and we are not okay with it.
Which brings us to today! We were indeed hit with disappointment when we clicked on Shraddha Kapoor’s recent post to check out the sexy dress she’s in.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0jPLGrAvoF/
The actress wasn’t the only one dressed in the designer label we have seen. Just last month, we spotted Sharmin Segal, from Malaal fame, dressed in the label for a promotional event as well…
https://www.instagram.com/p/By7ID5OBybF/
….and it broke our hearts just a little! Why? Here’s the quick version. Back in November 2018, the designer label was shamed all over social media for releasing a very racist promotional video, see below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqXYtsZl6D5/
This was followed by various reveals of the brand, and it’s namesake designer’s blatantly racist disposition:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqbTkY_FB7X/
In a gist, the whole thing was a colossal mess too big for any brand to come out of! What followed was a removal of the brand’s products from Chinese e-tailers like Alibaba and JD.com. They were also shunned from this year’s red carpets at the Golden Globes and Oscars, with celebs silently standing against the brand. The poster child for gender controversies and cultural ignorance has braved many storms, with April of 2019 marking its resurgence. Fashion enthusiasts have remained wary of accepting the brand as genuine influencers whereas celebrities and some reputed publications have ignored this incident altogether.
But given the fact that our neighbour China has consciously decided to shun the brand for being degrading towards Asian subculture, shouldn’t we take a stand as well? Surely there are other luxury labels that are more deserving of our stars’ attention? And should we not stand in solidarity against entitled labels doing as they please and getting away with dishonest apologies? We think so!
There’s so much to pick from, must we then promote a brand that has a reputation for being blatantly racist?
