Publications
Partners
- Balenciaga is taking full responsibility for their latest ad campaign which they've since taken down.
- The French fashion house came under fire last week after sharing photos of children holding teddy bears in bondage gear.
- "This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images," they said in a statement Monday, following backlash from Kim Kardashian and more.
Though Balenciaga removed their controversial Spring/Summer 2023 campaign, which featured children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear, they've since released a second statement after backlash from Kim Kardashian and more.
The reality star said Sunday she is "shaken by the disturbing images" and "re-evaluating" her partnership with the French fashion house. A long-time collaborator with the brand, particularly in recent months and years, you'll recall Balenciaga designed the Skims founder's iconic faceless 2021 Met Gala look.
After completely wiping their social media accounts, the brand shared a lengthy statement Monday and closed comments on the post. "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," the statement began.
Balenciaga said their "plush bear bags...should not have been featured with children".
They also addressed the inclusion of documents referencing a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a law that criminalises child sexual abuse images.
"All the items included in this shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were face office documents. They turned out to be real legal papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama. The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint. We take full accountability for our lack of oversight and control of the documents in the background and we could have done things differently."
The brand went on to add how they'd be taking action in remedying the situation, which included "laying the groundwork with organisations who specialise in child protection and aims at ending child abuse and exploitation".
"We want to learn from our mistakes and identify ways we can contribute," they concluded.
