Balenciaga condemns child abuse in new statement addressing controversial ads

Balenciaga has issued a new statement “strongly condemning child abuse” while addressing the fallout over its controversial ad campaigns involving children.

On Monday, Balenciaga shared a new statement to Instagram, where the luxury fashion house said it “would like to address the controversies surrounding our recent ad campaigns”.

In the post, the designer brand wrote: “We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative.

“The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a series of grievous errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility.”

Balenciaga has faced widespread backlash over two recent ad campaigns involving children. One of the ads, the designer’s gift collection campaign, featured children posing with the brand’s teddy bear purses, which critics pointed out appear to be wearing BDSM and bondage-inspired accessories. The second ad under scrutiny is Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 campaign, for its use of a printout of a Supreme Court decision on child pornography.

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