Are You Offended By Dolce & Gabbana’s Chinese Tourists?
A model on Dolce & Gabbana’s runway this weekend. Photo: Getty Images
The big news out of Milan this week was selfies. Specifically, the ones the models snapped on Dolce & Gabbana’s celebratory runway. The clothes were, as usual, an almost cartoon-like tribute to the Italy of yesteryear, with Sophia Loren-inspired hair and makeup, embroidered lace dresses, bedazzled accessories, and floral everything. But Fashionista.com noticed something else: Three Asian models in the fray, wearing striped looks featuring the classic Chinese cheongsam collar.
The brand’s press release confirms the inspiration:
Because of their travels, [the designers] have rediscovered how people and global travelers see and enjoy Summer in Italy (for example during the show, Chinese and Japanese models wear traditional clothes with Italian embellishments and jewels): they represent tourists that have just arrived in Italy and cannot wait to absorb the local mood and culture.
Fashionista writes, “A Chinese tourist traveling to Italy in, say, the spring of 2016 when this collection hits stores, would not wear anything like this. It feels icky, and represents an outdated and stereotypical view of Asian culture.”
On the one hand, Dolce & Gabbana doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to cultural sensitivity or political correctness. Between the African Colonialism influence of their Spring 2013 collection to the “only straight couples can have babies” scandal of last year, the design duo clearly doesn’t give a f**k if they offend you.
On the other, everyone is so quick to offend that it’s easy to forget that the runway is theater. Only recently has minimalism and practicality factored into a collection’s success. What you see on the runway should be elaborate, slightly out of touch—even if just out of economic touch—something to aspire to the way one does an editorial or a film. No, Chinese tourists probably won’t stroll around Portofino wearing a cheongsam next spring, but neither will Italian women grocery shop in Rome wearing a sheer red crochet suit with a white mink collar over a black leotard with a tiara in their hair.
Fashion week is more fun when it’s fantastical. And while the Internet can be more fun when it’s outraged, it’s also exhausting.
