On 27 February, the Italian fashion Fendi became the talk of the luxury world, but not because of its centenary fashion show in Milan the previous night. It started when Chinese netizens discovered that back in November last year, Fendi collaborated with a Korean artisan for a tribute version of its Baguette bag, as part of its “Hand in Hand“ collection.
Chinese netizens accuse Fendi of “cultural appropriation” because the Korean artisan Kim Eun-Young used the “Korean knot” as decoration on her version of the bag. The knot shares striking similarities to Chinese knotting due to its origins in China.
- #Fendi回应中国结争议Fendi responds to Chinese knot controversy: 79.95 million views on Weibo, no. 1 on the Hot Search list; 6.57 million views on Rednote, no. 10 on the Hot Spot list.
- #Fendi 中国结 Fendi Chinese Knot: 26.33 million views on Weibo, no. 1 on the Hot Search list.
It is worth noting that the “response” at this moment was Fendi taking all reference to the bag offline and one customer service person acknowledging the controversy.
The sentiment among Chinese netizens remains sensitive about representation and possible appropriation, such as with the “Lunar New Year” vs “Chinese New Year” controversy. For marketers, it is paramount to tread carefully when dealing with cultures that can be stereotypically grouped together.
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