HONG KONG — The Italian luxury replica brand Dolce & Gabbana apologized Friday for racist-tinged insults that touched off a growing boycott in China and left the company struggling to return its products to store shelves and e-commerce sites. It can be seen as Chinese netizens ‘drawing a line in the sand' in terms of what brands have the 'right' to discuss and pass judgement on. The lessons for this are far clearer and concerning for brands than earlier boycotts," says Jerry Clode, the head of digital and social insight at the Shanghai-based agency Resonance China

>Later the same day, global e-commerce giant Yoox Net-A-Porter also announced its intention to stop selling Dolce & Gabbana products in the Greater China region, and that they would be monitoring the situation closely and keep further decisions under review

>Offline retailers have also seen immediate impact to their business from the furore, with Lane Crawford , one of Greater China's most influential department stores, saying we have had customers returning Dolce & Gabbana products to our stores, and we anticipate that there may be further commercial impact to our business

>The duo was planning a huge fashion show in Shanghai, probably the biggest one ever organized by the brand, with more than a thousand guests, 360 models, and 120 artists between dancers and actors participating in the event at the Expo Center, a location of 18 thousand square meters

>It's been a week for Dolce & Gabbana After creating a series of (now-deleted) videos to promote its upcoming show in Shanghai - featuring an Asian model struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks - the Italian label was branded ‘racist' by its Chinese followers.