Dolce & Gabbana Files $600 Million Suit after anti-Asian Comments

Dolce & Gabbana sued two American fashion bloggers, claiming damages of over $ 600 million to Italian fashion house.

The lawsuit alleges that the posts from Diet Prada, which revealed racist messages from founder Stefano Gabbana's Instagram account in 2018, cost D&G millions of dollars in revenue.

In November 2018, D&G canceled a fashion show in Shanghai, after it came under attack for releasing an ad mocking Chinese culture.

Diet Prada re-posted racist messages, originally sent privately to an Asian woman, Michaela Tranova, from  Stefano Gabbana's Instagram account, one which said: “China Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia.”

[caption id="attachment_219556" align="aligncenter" width="1152"] Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana apology video on social network Weibo, Nov. 23, 2018[/caption]

D&G publicly apologized for the ad, and claimed that Gabbana's Instagram account had been hacked adding that the founder wasn't the one who sent the racist messages to Tranova.

The Associated Press reported that the company says in the lawsuit that it has lost €450 million in the brand image and nearly €90 million in sales from Asia, adding that the fashion house is also seeking a compensation for canceling the Shanghai Expo.

Earlier this week, Italian lawyers presented a summary arguing that the case should not be heard in Italy, as the defendants live in the U.S. and that the alleged damage was in Asia, the AP reported.

Meantime, Diet Prada said its team had filed a defense of free speech on Monday.