German fashion brand under fire for racist slur on Chinese

Demonstrators collect signatures in protest against Philipp Plein's racist slur in Germany back in 2007.[Photo/weibo]

German's fashion company Philipp Plein is under fire on the Internet in China for its racist history as the brand looks at expanding its business in the country.

The fashion brand opened an official account at Beijing-based social media Sina Weibo in August to help its marketing to woo Chinese consumers, attracting more than 28,000 followers.

It is in early June that certain Weibo users pointed out that Philipp Plein had humiliated Chinese eight years ago.

The brand released a limited edition T-shirt in 2007 with the words "FUCK YOU CHINA" printed on it and followed by "manufactured in Europe, produced and designed by Philipp Plein" .

A growing number of people are protesting the provocative and racist T-shirt, demanding an apology and calling for a boycott of its products.

Plein later claimed that the letters emblazoned on the T-shirts stood for "the fascinating and urban collection: kiss you China," adding he never intended to offend anyone with the controversial design.

But people did not obviously buy this claim as protesters have taken their fight against Plein onto the Internet again.

Many of them went to Philipp Plein's account on the Twitter-like Weibo to voice their anger.

"We should let more consumers know about its racist history and call for people not to buy their products," a Weibo user said.

"I wondered how they still dare to step into the Chinese market," another commented.

The company later shut down comments on its Weibo account to avoid more controversy.

Philipp Plein owns at least 10 boutiques in the China and plans to open four more by the end of year, People.cn reported. Many of its products are also available on China's major online shopping websites.