Italian luxury brand Versace has apologised after one of the company’s T-shirts was widely criticised on social media in China for identifying the Chinese-controlled territories of Hong Kong and Macau as countries.
Versace said on its Weibo account that it had made a mistake and as of 24 July had stopped selling and destroyed the T-shirts.
“We apologise for the dispute. We love China and respect the sovereignty of China’s territorial state,” Versace said in a statement.
The label’s artistic director Donatella Versace issued an apology. “Never have I wanted to disrespect China’s National Sovereignty and this is why I wanted to personally apologise for such inaccuracy and for any distress that it might have caused,” she said on her Instagram account.
This also led to Versace’s China brand ambassador Yang Mi, a popular actress in the country, cutting ties with the brand. This was one of the most viewed topics on Weibo this Sunday, attracting over 640 million views.
The fashion luxury brand is the latest to become embroiled in political issues that involve China. Since 2018, China has increased its policing of how international firms describe Hong Kong and Macau, former European colonies that are now part of China but run with a high degree of autonomy.
