Eat my pizza with a pair of chopsticks - will fashion brands ever learn about cross-cultural communications when going global: a personal perspective

Twenty years ago, the standard for fashion identity and consumption largely emanated from Europe and the USA. The balance has shifted towards Asian business economy, and in particularly China, which has become the second biggest economy in the world. The admission of China into the WTO in 2001 and expiration of Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) opened up endless opportunities for trade to and from China. The “new money” economy created a new middle class, which use luxury fashion as the statement for their new status. For a while, western luxury brands had no domestic competitions and were welcome with open arms from China. Brands such as Burberry and Gucci were able to establish a strong position in Chinese economy. Some even have their own head offices to cater to specific consumer community. However, things started to change when Chinese consumers gradually realised they were being seen as “cash cows”: a lot of fashion campaigns were targeted at them with no considerations towards their cultures and traditions. The breaking point, which received extensive media coverage, was the D&G Shanghai campaign 2019. The entire campaign was accused of trivialising Chinese culture and promoting unflattering racial stereotypes. This is paradigm of western Fashion’s attitude towards Chinese consumers, or anyone who is typically considered an outsider in the bigger context. This raises a question of whether or not cross-cultural communications have ever been considered or integrated in global marketing strategies when fashion brands enter any Asian markets. As a British fashion professional with Asian heritage and having worked in lots “East meets West” contexts, these issues have been underlying concerns to me for some time. This study will provide a personal reflection on the lack of cross-cultural communications of western Fashion when investing in an Asian market using the campaign as the case study.