Du Gabbana, Who Has Been Boycotted For A Year, Is Quietly Recovering In The Chinese Market.

Beijing entered the cold winter in November, but the SKP mall on Tai Wang Road is still bustling. In the exclusive market of luxury goods, dujibana has five storefronts, which is particularly conspicuous in a variety of colourful brands.

In the showcase, the new type of autumn and winter 2019 has been launched. Many people do not expect to see a low price. The only discount activity is to return to 200 yuan vouchers for shopping malls to celebrate 1000.

On weekdays, there are customers coming in to buy in the evenings. It doesn't seem to be the same as visiting other brand stores. The clerk of dujibana told the circle that after 2019, Du Gabbana's sales in China had basically returned to normal. At least in Beijing SKP, it is no problem to sell dozens of stores a day at weekends.

Also in November, dujibana appeared at China International Import fair in Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center. Among the more than 3800 exhibitors, dujibana, as always, is dazzling: the dazzling and complex patterns encased in a merry go round booth, and dozens of spotlights go to the huge floor mirror, and the lights are on the top, which are several classic "Sacred Hearts". The press release was released in several media and did not mention its experience a year ago.

"Isn't it a long time?" The clerk said.

A year ago, in November 22nd, dujibana, taking the promotional film, "chopsticks eating", was considered to be disrespectful of Chinese culture. This short film angered the Chinese. After being questioned, one of the founders of the brand, Stefano Banna, called the Chinese "arrogant" and "stupid" in INS. This country is "a pile of shit".

Soon, the storm spread to the line. In the first few months, the fashion show in Shanghai will be cancelled. More than ten stars will return to their homes to announce their termination. Tmall, Jingdong and other electronic business platforms are going down to Dujia, Banna. Within a day, Du Gabbana's sales channels in China collapsed.

Unlike the offline stores, it has been a whole year, and now, on the big electricity suppliers or on the review platform, the search for dujibana still does not show any results. A luxury shopping agent told "your circle", and now almost no one has bought her.

This luxury brand in Italy has remained as low-key as possible during the year. When its peers plunged into the mire, they were silent. In September 2019, Versace, Carl, Givenchy and other international luxury goods gathered in a "insult to China" storm. Their apology letter first went on micro-blog hot search.

There are signs that the relationship between luxury brands and Chinese consumers is changing. Foreign luxury goods once made Chinese people scramble for it. People associate them with luxury, elegance and ancient aristocratic traditions.

But now they have become the pronoun of pride and prejudice. The brand side has to relearn and understand the Chinese market, and the era of maintaining the image of high and cold and allowing people to pay their money is gone forever.

In a INS response to public opinion a year ago, Banna said, "without you (Chinese), we will still live better." The Italy media Republic newspaper predicts that Chinese people will soon forget it. After a while, dujibana will also be a high-end brand that Chinese rich people are rushing to buy.

But the brand still launched a quick rescue operation.

Christmas is a traditional promotion season. After a month of turmoil, dujibana is eager to sell Christmas to regain lost territory.

They released a rich Christmas advertisement with Chinese elements, and the red peony flowers were embroidered on the bags. The shops were also decorated with a new red carpet. The women's clothing resembling the cheongsam style was placed in the most conspicuous place in the shop. But no one stepped in, and everything seemed quite deliberate and awkward.

In the Forbes list released in March 2019, dujibana's two founders' wealth shrank by 30%. Before that, the two men were 1 billion 700 million dollars each. The UK brand assessment agency lowered its brand value by 20% and adjusted it to about $750 million.

Two months later, dujibana held a series of fashion show in autumn and winter in Milan. This time, they tried to express their friendship with Chinese consumers again in close proximity to the design of Chinese culture. On the day of the show, one of the links was the Chinese court style. The models wore embroidery costumes in the style of Qing palace drama, but the Asian faces were less than 1/3 of the previous years.

This obvious gesture failed to get Chinese people to buy, and the invited Chinese fashion media rarely kept the appointment. The Chinese editor who attended the event said he had nothing to do with Duke Bana in order to support the public relations team in China.

In previous years, fashion shows of this size will greatly enhance brand performance. But after the scandal, the show's media exposure was only 1/10 of the year before, and dujiaba earned 4 million 200 thousand dollars, down 190% from a year ago.

August 7, 2019 is Tanabata Festival. Du Gabbana's official WeChat public number is pushed again after 9 months. The content is a moving picture with no commercial elements. It writes "love" in various languages and happy "Tanabata".

This carefully moving map, less than twenty thousand of the reading volume, is submerged in the hot push of the day. No comments were shown below the picture. After the "insult to China" incident, the official micro-blog of dujiaba was still updated intermittently. It was not urgent and impatient to swear at it. It was like a teller who always smiled.

Du Gabbana's experience in China is enough to raise the vigilance of foreign luxury brands. In September this year, some netizens discovered that the T-shirts produced by Versace listed Hongkong, Taiwan and Macao as separate countries. Macao also used spelling in Portuguese, so it was hard to convince people that it was just an unintentional loss. After verification by netizens, there were similar problems in Cox, Givenchy, Arthur, Fu Lei Shi and CK.

Celebrities speak quickly. At second a.m. on the morning of 48, Yang Mi, the first Chinese spokesperson for Versace, issued a written release after 48 days of cooperation with the brand. Liu Wen, the spokesman for the company, said that the brand "seriously hurt the national feelings of the Chinese people" and ended its cooperation.

This is a sensitive time node. Sino US trade frictions intensified, and consumer nationalism which had long been absent began to change the choices of people. With dugga Banna as a warning, luxury brands know that at this juncture, any loss will bring years of cultivation to naught.

The big names handled the crisis with the fastest speed, and they made a low apology. In a letter of apology, they have taken a clear-cut stand for "one China principle" and enclose the CEO signature on micro-blog, INS and twitter. After the Dior show, the brand played "me and my motherland" in good faith.

During that time, "luxury group apology" boarded micro-blog hot search. It has been found that these luxury brands that hold the noble tradition and pursue art and beauty have not given enough respect to Chinese consumers in the past many years.

After the letter of apology was issued, the netizens in China read several words, "there are several" sorry "and" sorry "in the letter. Whether the letter of apology is published globally or only for" micro-blog's special offer "- six months ago, dujiapa's apology was released only on the mainland China's media platform. People try to judge whether the apology is sincere or interest from the lines.

Although the brand PR team should deal with the losses in time, it is hard to avoid. After the outbreak, the price of Tapestry group fell 1.39%, Versace fell 4.58% - capital has the most acute sense of smell, and investors understand what it means to lose the Chinese market for these luxury brands.

In the past two years, there has been an endless stream of friction between international fashion brands and Chinese consumers. The brands do not understand what has happened, so that the close relationship between the two sides suddenly becomes sensitive.

In the past 40 years, the two sides have taken what they want, and even for a long time, they have been in a relationship that transcends the commercial sphere. In 1978, French fashion designer Pierre Cardin came to China for the first time. He wore a wide shoulder woolen coat, white shirt and dark scarf, and displayed an expression of enlightenment in the deep blue and army green Chinese streets.

At that time, the Chinese government was embarking on the development of the textile and garment industry. As smart as Pierre Cardin, he saw the potential of China's economy, half as a businessman, half as a diplomatic ambassador, and spreading his "PC (Pierre Cardin)" trademark throughout China.

That's the first time that international fashion brands have had the first contact with China. In 1985, Pierre Cardin held the largest show in the history of the brand. At the Beijing workers' Stadium, more than ten thousand viewers saw the grand event from the forefront of fashion.

Like Pierre Cardin, dujibana also saw the potential of the Chinese market. In 2010, they opened the first Chinese store in Yintai square, Beijing, and launched the official flagship store with shopping function in 2011. This is catching up with the outbreak of luxury consumption in China.

In less than eight years, China has become the world's largest luxury consumer market at an annual rate of nearly 20%, and its consumption share accounted for 32% of the global market in 2018. Du Gabbana has opened 58 stores in 12 cities in China, and China has become the largest country in the world.

Entertainment stars are also willing to show their "internationalization" and spontaneously speak up for luxury brands. In 2012, the Chinese female star "grab seats" happened on the Dior show.

Chinese consumers also "failed to meet expectations" and quickly carried the turnover of major brands. Estee Lauder Co director Leonard Lauder said in an interview that 45% of the sales of beauty products in Paris's old Fuye mall were contributed by Chinese tourists.

The major brands paid more attention to the feedback from the Chinese market. In 2010, Estee Lauder invited Liu Wen to endorse it. After that, sales in China exceeded $three hundred million a year, and China became the largest market outside the United States.

Chinese consumers bought 32% of the world's luxury goods in 2017, ranking first among the United States and Japan. Before that, the mainland media wanted to get the invitation letter of the four fashion week. It was still very difficult. But with the popularity of Chinese tourists in the world, the Chinese entered the fashion week and became more and more convenient. The organizers arranged more and more seats.

After the cancellation of the D&G show in Shanghai, dujibana expressed his love for China many times. But like Estelle Chen, a model who quit the show, "you don't love China, you love money."

After the "insult to China" incident, news reports said dujiaba had a big discount, but the news was not confirmed. Beijing SKP dujibana shop staff to "your circle" revealed that in addition to the normal discount season, the brand never cut sales. This is a tough measure for luxury goods to maintain brand tone.

Julie Harris, Asia Pacific General Manager of fashion information service provider WGSN, once told fashion culture researcher Li Mengsu: "the trend of luxury consumption in China and the world is two curves, one from low to high, one from high to low, and finally crossing in twenty-first Century."

As the gap between the two curves continues to widen, the international big names enhance the tolerance of Chinese stars at a ridiculous speed. As soon as Dior changed the attitude of high and cold, invited Angela Baby and Zhao Liying to become brand spokesmen. As a marketing expert, Du Gabbana frequently invited Chinese stars to take the stage, including Wang Junkai, Di Ali Gerba, and fashion blogger Gogoboi, who was popular with the media.

But after the insult to China, everything stopped abruptly. In January 2019, dujibana held a fashion show in Italy. Invitations have been sent to many famous Chinese models, but almost no one has been invited.

Contrary to what most people expected, the clerk of dujiaba told the circle that no one in the shop even offered to resign even when the brand was in deep trouble. Not because of loyalty to the company, let alone to ignore the national interest - "to support the family." She understands the risks that a fanaticism may bring, but it can only be tough. She is just a living person.

A stupid insult to China will hurt more than brands and consumers. Those who are trapped in it will be more difficult to survive. Zuo, a young Chinese model, has been subjected to cyber violence because of the shooting of chopsticks. After the letter of apology was released, she disappeared completely in social media such as micro-blog and INS, and there was little chance of appearing on advertising or T.

And dujibana, after a short period of dormancy, has begun to pave the way for "return". In February 2019, CEO met in response to the call of the Chinese leaders "to see China for thousands of years to Xi'an, to see five hundred years of China's visit to Beijing, to see one hundred years of China's going to Shanghai," and to lead executives to carry out a "Chinese culture learning tour" in Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an. He felt that the trip was very useful, "opened his heart", "expanded his horizons" and felt the great achievements made in China's modernization drive.

The photos of executives' study tours are placed in the Expo District of dujiaba. According to news reports, the move is "trying to show the fusion of Chinese culture and Italy culture".

According to Italy media Fashion Magazine, Du Gabbana recently appointed the New Asia Pacific president and CEO, with Shanghai and Hongkong as the main working places. The two founders believe that "the Chinese market is recovering".