Bella Hadid is not afraid to call out the fashion industry on its wrongdoings, and her latest comments about a major fashion house’s latest show are an example of that.
The supermodel took to Instagram to respond to a video made by French fashion commentator Elias Medini. In the video, Elias called the latest Dolce & Gabbana show “fifty shades of white”, noting that the fashion heavyweight featured no people of color, only white brunettes.
Bella Hadid called the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show “embarrassing”
“Shocked people actually support this company still, it’s embarrassing, Models/stylists/ casting, the whole damn thing,” Bella wrote in a comment under the post.
“[Dolce & Gabbana] Been cancelled … years of racism, sexism, bigotry, xenophobia,” she continued in a second comment. “How are we shocked still?”
Bella is correct — Dolce & Gabbana are no strangers to controversy. In 2015, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, who are former romantic partners, said in an interview with an Italian magazine that they oppose gay adoptions, surrogacy, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). The comments drew criticism from LGBT celebrities such as Elton John, Ricky Martin, and Martina Navratilova. Thousands in the U.S. and UK signed petitions to ban the fashion house from major department stores.
In 2018, a series of campaign advertisements run in China led to accusations of racism. The advertisements offended many Chinese citizens for exaggerating a model’s features and mocking the Mandarin language.
Another fashion brand, Adidas, apologized to Bella in 2024, when she criticised the company’s latest campaign. Bella, a Palestinian-American, was unknowingly included in a campaign honoring the 52nd anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics. At the 1972 Olympics, eleven Israeli athletes were killed by the Black September militant group.
“Palestine is not synonymous with terrorism,” she wrote on Instagram. Additionally, “this campaign unintentionally highlighted an event that does not represent who we are.”
Further, “My team should have known, Adidas should have known,” she said at the time. The brand also apologized to the model, “for any upset or distress caused”, and vowed to “revise” the campaign.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK BELLA HADID WAS RIGHT TO CALL OUT DOLCE & GABBANA?
