Diet Prada strikes again: after the Dolce & Gabbana case of 2018, with the company accused of having spread an advertising campaign in three videos published on Weibo with attitudes judged to be racist towards the Asian community, Trussardi also ends up in the crosshairs of the attentive Instagram account from 2.7 million followers who examines and denounces the missteps of the fashion industry. This time, under the lens of Diet Prada, a sketch by Michelle Hunziker, wife of Tomaso Trussardi, president of the family business, ended as part of an episode of Striscia la Notizia, the satirical program of Canale5: together with the co-host, Gerry Scotti, Hunziker imitated the Chinese pronunciation by lengthening the cut of the eyes.
Diet Prada, founded and fueled in the United States by the work of two former stylists, one of whom is of Asian origin, did not hesitate to strongly criticize what happened, recounting the development of the facts and citing that Italy is the European country with largest Chinese community, consisting of 310 thousand people. Over 11,300 indignant comments on the incident.
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For her part, Michelle Hunziker posted an apology video on her Instagram profile, accompanying it with this text: «In my career I have always listened to you carefully and learned from your feedback day after day. I am deeply sorry for what happened last night and for all the people I have offended. It was not my intention to do so. I repeat that I have always been against any form of discrimination. Thank you”.
Shortly after, another post of apology appeared on Trussardi’s Instagram account, signed by CEO Sebastian Suhl, who arrived at the company in November last year to follow the relaunch of the greyhound house, especially abroad: “Trussardi is born as an inclusive lifestyle brand. As a company we condemn racism and discrimination in all its forms – it reads -. Any association by Trussardi with episodes of racism is without foundation. Inclusiveness is a value we believe in and it is what is driving Trussardi’s course under the new leadership. We are close to the Italian-Asian community and to all the Asian communities in the world “
What consequences will, if any, what has happened on Trussardi’s business in the precious Chinese market, where it has been present since 2002? After Diet Prada’s indictment posts, Dolce & Gabbana were forced to cancel the Shanghai show-event and their sales boycotted in the following weeks. The two designers apologized with a video, but a few weeks ago it was revealed that they actually also sued Diet Prada asking for damages for a total of four million euros.