Balenciaga under fire over 'creepy' ads of kids with 'bondage outfits'
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The backlash surrounding Balenciaga’s recent ad campaigns involving children has remained strong as fans and celebrities continue to denounce the luxury brand.
The Spanish fashion house recently found itself embroiled in controversy over two recent ad campaigns. The first campaign, the designer’s gift collection campaign, was criticised for using children to model its teddy bear purses, after critics pointed out the bears appeared to be wearing BDSM and bondage-inspired accessories.
The second ad under scrutiny is Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 campaign, which featured a printout of a Supreme Court decision on child pornography and a book about Beligan artist Michaël Borremans, whose earlier work included depictions of castrated children.
In an attempt to address the fallout, Balenciaga has issued two statements regarding the since-removed campaigns. In the most recent, released on Monday, the brand said it “strongly condemned” child abuse while alleging it was never its intent to “include it in our narrative”.
Balenciaga also filed a lawsuit against the production company behind the Spring 2023 shoot.
The statements and legal complaint have done little to quell the intense reactions from the public over the ads, with many calling for a boycott of the luxury brand, while celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman have been called on to cut ties with Balenciaga.
Kardashian, a longtime ambassador of the brand, ultimately announced in a statement shared to social media that she would be “re-evaluating” her relationship with Balenciaga moving forward, while her sister Kylie Jenner appeared to distance herself from the brand when she dismissed speculation that she and her famous family were “covering up” for Balenciaga with “calculated” social media posts.
For all the latest updates regarding the ongoing Balenciaga scandal, follow along below.
As the backlash continues into its second week, Brittany Aldean, wife of Jason Aldean, shared a photo of herself throwing out her Balenciaga bags.
“It’s trash day @Balenciaga,” Aldean captioned the photo.
Despite apologies from Balenciaga, former customers have denounced the brand by destroying clothing and accessories.
Chloe Hennessey, 27, recently filmed herself cutting up a Balenciaga hoodie worth hundreds of dollars, while TikTok has filled with videos of other former customers doing the same.
Chloe Hennessey, 27, filmed herself cutting up a Balenciaga hoodie that retails for approximately £600 along with sunglasses, trainers and a T-shirt
Although many fans are disappointed Kim Kardashian did not confirm she would be cutting ties with the brand over the scandal, a new report claims that the Skims founder declined an offer to star in a new campaign for Balenciaga amid the controversy.
According to TMZ, Kardashian allegedly turned down the offer, before issuing her public statement on Sunday.
The reality star has also reportedly made alternate clothing arrangements for upcoming events, after she was initially scheduled to appear in Balenciaga.
As celebrities and notable figures continue to condemn the brand, The View co-host Sunny Hostin revealed that she also has an issue with the brand’s style.
“What’s also very distasteful, Balenciaga lately,” she said on Monday’s episode. “I mean, their stuff is just ugly.”
Kylie Jenner shut down claims that she attempted to distract from the Balenciaga scandal with new photos of her family in a comment posted to TikTok.
“Uh why would I post my child to cover up for Balenciaga? This is why I don’t do this. Always something to say,” the reality star wrote.
The reality star posted rare photos of her baby son, while Skims founder shared new photos of her home
Despite calls from fans, Nicole Kidman has not yet addressed the backlash over the campaigns, or her involvement in the Spring 2023 shoot.
On Instagram, where the actor has photos from the photoshoot displayed, fans have continued to criticise her silence.
“Where is your statement?” one person commented, while another said: “Why are you associated with this company? Expected better.”
Additionally, Balenciaga said it would be working with organisations that specialise in child protection moving forward.
“We want to learn from our mistakes and identify ways we can contribute,” the company continued, before issuing another apology for “the offense we have caused”.
As Balenciaga attempts to make its way out of the controversy, the brand said it would be making a number of changes to the way it operates.
According to the luxury fashion house, one of the changes will be “closely revising” its organisation and “collective ways of working,” while another will include “reinforcing the structures around our creative processes and validation steps”.
“We want to ensure that new controls mark a pivot and will prevent this from happening again,” the statement added.
While the backlash over the campaign is recent, the Spring 2023 shoot was actually shot in July.
Photographer Joshua Bright captured the portrait images for the campaign, which meant he was tasked with photographing stars such as Nicole Kidman and Bella Hadid.
Chris Maggio captured the still-life images of accessories for the campaign, according to WWD, which notes that it was a photo of a Balenciaga/Adidas purse that included the Supreme Court documents pertaining to child pornography.
The explanation the set designer’s agent offered for the presence of Supreme Court documents pertaining to child pornography on the set was similar to the one shared by Balenciaga in a statement released on Monday.
In the statement, Balenciaga said the props “turned out to be real legal papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama”.