Balenciaga’s racism enrages Chinese consumers

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The France-based luxury brand Balenciaga published a statement on Chinese social media on Thursday in response to alleged discrimination against Chinese customers at a department store in Paris.

In the brief statement, the brand apologized to the affected customers and stressed its commitment to equal service for all customers. However, the apology – which was written in both Chinese and English – hasn't restrained the fury of Chinese netizens, as there have so far been over 20 million views of posts with the hashtag of “Boycott Balenciaga’s racism against Chinese.”

Balenciaga's statement published on Chinese social media /WeChat Photo‍

The outrage originated from a short video in which a gang of francophone young men were seen fighting Chinese customers. According to the video, the incident happened on Wednesday when customers were queuing for a limited release of Balenciaga’s latest products.

The altercation happened in the outlet of Balenciaga at a department store in Paris on Wednesday. /Screenshot

In another video published by Beijing News, a witness named Qin Xiaxin said that the altercation happened when a Chinese woman tried to stop several of the young men cutting in the queue. Qin added that the brand immediately decided to close but still allow some customers in a designated area, including the queue-jumpers, to continue shopping.

The Chinese customers in the queue expressed their discontent against the unfairness and suggested the staff make the queue-jumpers leave, but the staff refused their request and blamed the Chinese woman, asking her to leave the store.

The French-speaking queue-jumpers involved in the fight /Screenshot

With the videos circulating on social media, Chinese people poured their anger into the comments under the brand's statement on Sina Weibo.

“We ask you apologize to all the Chinese, not only the Chinese customers [on site],” @Huqichen_ commented.

The queue-jumpers still cut in the queue. /Screenshot

On its overseas social media, Chinese people also spoke out against the incident.

“Shame on you! If you called that an 'apology.' I bet you never knew what it means apologize. Racial discrimination is the culture of your brand,” Mona Yang wrote on Facebook.

Chinese netizens put a red X on Balenciaga's logo with the caption of "Boycott Balenciaga's discrimination against Chinese." /Weibo Photo

7.6 million Chinese households purchased luxury goods in 2016, exceeding the total of Malaysian and Dutch households, according to the statistics by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. The average amount of luxury spending reached 71,000 yuan (around 11,000 US dollars).