Versace apologizes for T-shirt howler

Italian luxury fashion brand Versace has apologized for mistakenly listing Chinese cities as separate countries on some of its designer T-shirts, it said on Sina Weibo on Sunday.

It said in the announcement that it had taken all such T-shirts off the shelf and destroyed them since July 24, adding that it loves China and resolutely respects China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

Netizens posted pictures of its T-shirt showing Hong Kong and Macau listed as countries on social media on Saturday. 

Just about 10 minutes before the brand’s apology, the team of Chinese actress Yang Mi, who was Versace's brand ambassador in China, said on Weibo that she has withdrawn all cooperation with Versace after the incident which was damaging China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

In November last year, another Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana apologized for racist and derogatory comments about China and Chinese people on Instagram by one of the founders of the group that sparked an online uproar.