Recently, the French fashion brand LEMAIRE has been involved in a public controversy due to a promotional campaign for a set of fragrance utensils called Objets Senteur. In the promotional photos released by the brand, its combination of long braids, long gowns, and scissors was questioned as having a tendency to insult China, causing strong dissatisfaction among netizens.
According to public information, LEMAIRE was founded in Paris, France in 1991. The founder was Christophe Lemaire, the former creative director of Hermès. The brand takes French minimalism as its core. In July 2018, a minority stake in LEMAIRE was acquired by Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo.
It is worth noting that LEMAIRE has actively expanded in the Chinese market in recent years. In January this year, LEMAIRE opened the world's largest flagship store on Wukang Road, Shanghai. In addition, LEMAIRE Beijing Sanlitun Taikoo Li flagship store will officially open in March 2026.
This evening, LEMAIRE issued an official statement to apologize. "We are aware of the recent discussion surrounding the Tresse object and its presentation in the Objets Senteur collection. Tresse is an object made of hand-woven linen and used to carry fragrance. We sincerely apologize for the doubts, discomfort and distress caused by this object and image representation."
LEMAIRE said, "We also realized that during this release and presentation process, we failed to fully consider the possible differences and sensitivities in perception under different cultural contexts. As a brand targeting a global and multicultural audience, we know that we should assume more prudent responsibilities in creative expression. Relevant feedback is very important to us, and we have begun to reflect and adjust our internal processes to further enhance cultural awareness and responsibility, and try our best to avoid similar situations from happening again."
LEMAIRE also said, "We sincerely thank our Chinese friends for their long-term attention to the brand, and also thank everyone for their candid feedback on this incident. We will regard this incident as an important opportunity for reflection, proactively strengthen the internal cultural review process, and demand ourselves with a more prudent, clear and respectful attitude in future communication and creation." (Yan Yan)
