Fashion’s Asian community disappointed but resolute against industry’s racism

Last week, Michel Gaubert, a well-known French DJ with a 30-year career producing runway sounds for luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, and Valentino, posted a video on his Instagram of himself and seven other dinner guests wearing paper masks with slanted eyes, chanting the words “Wuhan girl, wahoo!” Reaction online was swift to the casual post-prandial racism on display and he has since posted two different apology statements on social media. This latest affront to the Asian fashion community has left many of its high-profile members struggling to contextualize the imagery with the man they thought they knew. “More than anger, it was overwhelming disappointment and sadness that I felt. This is an industry that I’ve been proud to be a part of, proud to have taken up space in,” wrote influencer Susie Lau on Instagram, “This person in question is someone I respect and have interviewed, someone deeply connected to the most powerful houses in the world.”