Dior accused of racism over model’s slanted-eye gesture on Instagram
By Ryan General
April 14, 2023
Multinational luxury fashion house Dior is currently facing allegations of racial insensitivity after posting an image of a model posing with a slanted-eye gesture.
The photo was posted on Instagram over the weekend as part of a series of promotional images for the brand’s new makeup line.
However, the image was removed from Dior’s carousel post after it drew online backlash.
The backlash continued to grow on social media even after Dior removed the image.
The original post, which is still up, has received several comments that express anger and disappointment.
“You have been through this racist scandal before, why you have to do it again?” one commenter wrote. “If you are thinking about using these racist pictures to increase your brand exposure in Asian market, I am really disappointed. You are what, white privileged marketing team?”
“This is not the first time Dior has shown racism towards Asians…” another commenter said.
“What are u doing? The third pic is racial discrimination,” another commenter declared.
“You insulted Asians, not once or twice, and I think you should apologize,” another commenter chimed in.
On Wednesday, the Chinese government-backed media platform Global Times published an opinion piece urging the brand to issue a public apology.
If Dior truly respects the Asia market, it should have basic respect and humbleness, instead of trying to weather publicity crises by pretending it didn’t know. Such an attitude will eventually cause irreparable damage to its reputation.
The hashtag “Dior makeup ads suspected of racial discrimination toward Asians” became a trending topic on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo, attracting over 30 million views in just 24 hours.
As many critics pointed out, this is not the first time that Dior has faced allegations of racial discrimination toward Asians.
In 2021, a photograph taken by Chinese photographer Chen Man at a Shanghai fashion exhibit sparked controversy for purportedly catering to Western aesthetics vilifying Asian women. In response to the backlash, both Dior and the photographer issued an apology, with Dior stating, “We highly value people’s opinions, respect Chinese people’s feelings and strictly follow Chinese laws and regulations.”
Last year, Dior came under fire for a skirt design that Chinese state-run media platform People’s Daily claimed was based on an ancient wraparound garment originating from the 10th century Song dynasty. According to Dior, the design was inspired by school uniforms.
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