Temple of Dreams

It all started with a phone call from Corinne Ng, managing director of Edipresse Media Singapore, which publishes Singapore Tatler, amid deadline week in May. She wasn’t her usual perky self and sounded somewhat cautious. “Remember Dolce & Gabbana’s The Great Show in Shanghai last year?” she asked. “Well, you’re invited for its Alta Moda presentation in Sicily in July. Would you be interested to go?”

I was momentarily caught off guard. To be honest, I still hadn’t quite processed that incident in Shanghai, when Stefano Gabbana, one half of the designer duo, had a terse exchange on Instagram with model Michele Tranovo, who had pointed out that one of the brand’s ads as being potentially racist. It quickly escalated from social media to real life and drew ire from Chinese netizens, resulting in the cancellation of the Shanghai show by the local government.