Houston Community News >> Provocative T-Shirts Under Fire in China

8/31/2007 MUNICH, Germany (UPI) -- A growing number of Chinese citizens are protesting provocative and possibly racist T-shirts created by a German fashion designer.

After designer Philipp Plein released a series of T-shirts aimed at fighting the rampant spread of fashion piracy in China, a number of Chinese citizens took offense at the clothing's apparent message, Deutsche Welle reported Friday. Those Chinese nationals were not sated by the designer's explanation that the letters emblazoned on the T-shirts stood for "the fascinating and urban collection: kiss you China."

Protesters also were dismayed by the presence of a Chinese man on the shirt that could potentially be seen as racist, the German broadcaster said.

While those protesters have taken their fight against Plein onto the Internet, the designer has publicly apologized for the T-shirt design.

The T-shirt's message was not racist or political, Plein said in a news release, adding he never intended to offend anyone with the controversial design.

Contributed by UPI