The D&G store in Beijing's Yintai Center on Wednesday Photo: Shen Weiduo/GT

Italian luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) tried to use the opportunity of Chinese Valentine's Day on Tuesday as a chance to regain popularity, but its dream was not easy to realize as consumers did not forget the company's insults against Chinese people two years ago, which prompted a boycott and slump in business.

Chinese netizens noticed promotional photos by D&G recently on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. The company also launched ads on WeChat on August 3.

Fashion magazine super ELLE published a branded article for D&G on its social media account to promote the company's products, reportedly the first fashion media outlet to cooperate with the brand after its racism scandal.

D&G got into hot water in November 2018 when its promo video was seen as racist for depicting an Asian woman clumsily using chopsticks to eat pizza and spaghetti. The controversy escalated after the brand's co-founder and designer Stefano Gabbana said that "the country of shit is China" and spoke of a "China Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia." 

The designer later claimed his account had been hacked.

Amid the boycott by Chinese customers, a fashion show in late 2018 was canceled and the brand has paid for its insults since then. Its products were removed from major e-commerce platforms and sales in the Asia-Pacific market (mainly China) for the 2018-19 fiscal year dropped 7.7 percent. The company expected continued shrinking in sales for 2019-20. 

Other luxury brands, meantime, have seen robust increases in the Chinese market. Although the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 frustrated the luxury industry, China is one of the markets that is likely to recover first. 

D&G sets up offline pop-up stores for Chinese Valentine's Day in Chengdu, Chongqing and Harbin. Media reported that the company intentionally avoided first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai where a chilly reception was likely.

But its attempts to win back Chinese customers may not work as it never really apologized for its wrongdoing. 

"D&G is fawning over us for our wallets. I cannot accept a company that disrespects me," read a typical online comment on Weibo.

Two popular Chinese fashion bloggers, both having millions of followers on Weibo, told the Global Times on Tuesday that they had refused D&G's invitation to offline events, as the brand's reputation was in tatters.

China has always welcomed international companies to do business in the country and is willing to provide all kinds of favorable policies. But brands that show no respect to China and Chinese people are doomed to fail in this massive market, as customers will vote with their feet, analysts said.