Balenciaga scandal - Brand issues statement, drops lawsuit as creative director responds to backlash
As it happened - Luxury fashion brand Balenciaga embroiled in controversy over ads featuring children
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Your support makes all the difference.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 found itself embroiled in controversy over two ad campaigns - one with a child model holding a “BDSM teddy bear” and another featuring a Supreme Court decision on child pornography and a book about Belgian artist Michaël Borremans.
Addressing the fallout, Balenciaga “strongly condemned” child abuse and said it never intended to “include it in our narrative”.
Creative director Demna has also apologised for the brand’s “wrong artistic choice,” while president and CEO Cédric Charbit apologised “for the offense” the campaign caused.
The remarks did little to quell outrage, with many calling for a boycott of the luxury brand and for celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman to cut ties.
Kardashian, a longtime brand ambassador, ultimately announced she would be “re-evaluating” the relationship, while her sister Kylie Jenner appeared to distance herself by dismissing speculation that she and her famous family were “covering up” for Balenciaga.
Balenciaga’s Demna praised brand’s popularity month before scandal: ‘The fashion elite say hello to me’
Fashion thrives on backlash – the Balenciaga ‘child abuse’ scandal won’t change that
The photoshoots that threatened to topple a fashion house: What happened at Balenciaga?
Street artist leaves ‘paedophilia’ graffiti on Balenciaga store window in London
Social media users call on Adidas to respond to the Balenciaga backlash, after a purse from Balenciaga’s spring 2023 collaboration with Adidas was featured in a photoshoot in which documents from a Supreme Court case on child pornography appeared in the background.
ICYMI: Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia issued an apology amid the brand’s recent ad scandal.
“I want to personally apologise for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with kids and I take my responsibility,” he said in an Instagram statement. “It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them.”
“As much as I would sometimes like to provoke a thought through my work, I would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. I need to learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organisations to know how I can contribute and help on this terrible subject.”
“I apologise to anyone offended by the visuals and Balenciaga has guaranteed that adequate measures will be taken not only to avoid similar mistakes in the future but also to take accountability in protecting child welfare in every way we can.”
Balenciaga creative director Demna issues apology amid campaign ad scandal
‘I want to personally apologise for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with kids and I take my responsibility’
Who is Michaël Borremans?
The Belgian artist’s work was seen in the background of a photoshoot for Balenciaga, in which Supreme Court documents from a case on child pornography were visible.
According to the Hong Kong David Zwirner gallery, his paintings in Fire from the Sun depict “toddlers engaged in playful but mysterious acts with sinister overtones and insinuations of violence”.
Axed Balenciaga ad included book by artist who painted castrated children
Fashion brand ‘reiterates its sincere apologies for the offence we have caused and extends its apologies to talents and partners’
WATCH: Street artist writes ‘paedophilia’ on Balenciaga window in London
Street artist Joe Bloggs, known by his artist name as The Average Man, placed a vinyl sticker with the words “paedophilia” on the glass display window of a Balenciaga store on New Bond street in central London.
The words appeared three times in black below two back-to-back facing letter “Ps”.
VOICES: Bravo Balenciaga, you have got exactly what you wanted
“Not only are there urgent discussions to be had about what (and what definitely isn’t) age-appropriate; but we need to talk about the use of child models to sell adult goods to begin with; about the murky history and treatment of youngsters in the modelling industry for decades and – quite simply – about misleading kids.”
“It comes down to two things: consent and respect. We ask a lot of our kids, and (all too often) we expect them to blindly obey. We don’t give them anywhere near the same accord or autonomy that we give to fellow grown-ups. And that’s wrong. This Balenciaga campaign proves it.”
The Independent’s Victoria Richards comments on the Balenciaga backlash:
Balenciaga posted a new statement to Instagram on Friday (2 December).
The brand said it will drop its lawsuit against the production company behind the spring 2023 photoshoot.
“I want to personally reiterate my sincere apologies for the offense caused and take my responsibility,” said Balenciaga president and CEO, Cédric Charbit. “At Balenciaga, we stand together for children safety and do not tolerate any kind of violence and hatred message.”
Balenciaga says it will drop lawsuit against production company in new statement
The brand has issued three statements since the backlash
Balenciaga has announced the brand will be taking action “to learn from our mistakes as an organisation.”
These steps include implementing new control instances, such as content validation and an image board.
“On the internal side, we nominate with immediate effect an image board responsible for evaluating the nature of our content from concept to final assets, including legal, sustainability and diversity expertise,” the company said in a statement.
“On the external side, we have appointed a best-in-class agency to assess and evaluate our content,” Balenciaga continued.
The brand has also reorganised its image department “to ensure full alignment with our corporate guidelines.
Why is Balenciaga under fire?
The high fashion brand received backlash over a recent holiday ad campaign, which featured child models holding teddy bear handbags seemingly dressed in bondage and BDSM gear, including fishnet tops, studded leather harnesses, and collars with locks.
In a separate photoshoot for Balenciaga’s spring 2023 campaign, documents identified as being from the 2008 Supreme Court case, United States v Williams – which criminalised the pandering of child pornography – were used as props.
Read the full story here.
The photoshoots that threatened to topple fashion house: What happened at Balenciaga?
The fashion brand published a controversial campaign featuring children holding bondage teddy bears, and a Supreme Court case on child pornography in a separate ad. Meredith Clark reports
Balenciaga explained the excerpts from a 2008 Supreme Court case were provided by a third party most likely coming from the filming of a television drama.
On 28 November, the brand said the photoshoot set from its spring 2023 collaboration with Adidas was “meant to replicate a business office environment”.
The backdrop featured purses displayed atop the 2008 Supreme Court case United States v Williams, which criminalised the pandering of child pornography. According to Balenciaga, “all the items included in this shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents”.
“They turned out to be real legal papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama,” Balenciaga continued. “The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint.”
Balenciaga releases new statement addressing controversial ads
Celebrities including Kim Kardashian have condemned brand’s recent ad campaigns
Kim Kardashian shared she is “re-evaluating” her relationship with Balenciaga. Since then, the Skims founder reportedly declined an offer to star in a new campaign for the brand 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.
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