Angelababy Promotes “Cheap Shoes” In Couture Gown, Angering Dutch Designer

Chinese star Angelababy has found herself at the centre of another fashion storm, this time involving haute couture and a pair of locally made shoes.

The 36-year-old recently appeared on a live stream sale in an off-season couture gown from Dutch label RVDK.

While dressed in the purple-coral strapless gown, she promoted and modelled sneakers from Chinese footwear brand Red Dragonfly, which she endorses. The shoes are priced at around 400 yuan to 500 yuan (S$73 to S$90).

During the live stream, Angelababy was seen posing with the shoes and even performing the “Meow Meow” dance at fans’ request, with the host praising her playful look as “perfect for this dance.”

She later shared photos of herself in the same couture gown on Instagram, while images of the dress styled with different shoes also appeared on Red Dragonfly’s Weibo account.

However, the styling choice soon sparked backlash after netizens DM-ed the pics to RVDK designer Ronald van der Kemp – and he was clearly unimpressed.

In response, he said: “I did not allow any commercial activity or event with my couture dress. There is NO PERMISSION from RVDK to promote cheap shoes wearing one-of-a-kind couture gown.”

Interestingly, before the controversy erupted, Ronald had shared this photo of Angelababy wearing the gown, on Instagram captioning it: “Since years we collaborate together! The stunning @angelababyct in rvdkcouture #rvdk.”

His ”cheap shoes” remark quickly ignited debate online.

While some criticised the pairing of haute couture with live stream sales, many netizens rushed to Angelababy’s defense, saying responsibility lay with her styling team and the actress should not be held accountable.