On May 9, 2023, Dolce & Gabbana posted on their social media account that NCT's Doyoung has been selected as a brand ambassador for them. The Italian luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana stated that Doyoung will be their ambassador in South Korea and Japan. The brand stated that music has always been the biggest source of inspiration for them and the best tool to express the brand.
Dolce & Gabbana has faced accusations of racism, particularly in China since 2018. The brand received backlash over a video campaign that was criticized as racist, culture insensitive, and rude. Additionally, there were offensive messages posted on social media sites like Instagram, from co-founder Stefano Gabbana's account, which went viral. Stefano was accused of making derogatory remarks toward China and Chinese people in general (he said his account was hacked but who knows if it is true or false). As a result, the brand was boycotted, and products were removed all over China and other Asian countries. The controversy led to the cancellation of a major show in China, which was set to involve 500 looks, last for one hour, and cost millions of dollars. The co-founders of Dolce & Gabbana later apologized in a video on Chinese social media, saying they hope to be forgiven and will do their best to better understand and respect Chinese culture. Despite the apology, Chinese consumers have neither forgiven nor forgotten Dolce & Gabbana, and the brand still faces difficulties in China.
Chinese artists such as popstar Karry Wang, model Estelle Chen has terminated their contracts with D&G in the past. Now would China or Chinese people feel negatively toward Doyoung because of this partnership or it doesn't matter because Doyoung is not representing China nor Chinese?