Dior angers China again over ‘racist tropes’

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A logo of fashion brand Dior is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, January 27, 2023. [Photo/Agencies]

French fashion brand Dior has come under fire on Chinese and foreign social media for alleged racial discrimination after posting a promotional photo showing a model pulling the corners of her eyes up as if with slanted eyes.

Four days ago, Dior posted a group of publicity photos for its makeup line to its Instagram account, but the post quickly went viral with the third photo in the album being accused of depicting racist tropes.

The widely criticized photo was quickly deleted by the luxury brand, and as of Wednesday, the other photos and a total of more than 900 comments in the Instagram post remain visible. A large number of netizens criticized the deleted photo and expressed their anger in the comments, which drew hundreds of likes.

On Sina Weibo, the most popular microblogging platform in China, the hashtag “Dior makeup advertisements suspected of racial discrimination against Asians” had been viewed more than 30 million times in 24 hours and was among the most trending topics of the platform on Tuesday.

This is not the first time that the famous fashion brand has been accused of racial discrimination against Asians, as Instagram and Weibo users have pointed out.

At a Shanghai fashion exhibition hosted by Dior in 2021, a controversial photo taken by renowned Chinese photographer Chen Man sparked a number of angry reactions, as the photo showed a model with small eyes, “scary” eyelids, dark skin and dressed in traditional Chinese costume holding a Dior bag.

Many netizens accused the brand and the photographer of using Asian stereotypes to insult China.

Chen later expressed a “deep apology” in a statement and said she would accept all criticism and feel guilty for her “immaturity and ignorance” at the start of her career in 2012 when she took the photo.

Dior also posted an unapologetic statement on its social media accounts and said the photo was not an advertisement for the brand and that the company had removed all related content from online and offline platforms.

The brand added that it will continue to respect the feelings of the Chinese people, abide by Chinese laws, and cooperate with relevant authorities to strictly review all works that are shown to the public.

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