Balenciaga apologizes for ads featuring bondage bears and articles about child abuse
Luxury fashion house Balenciaga has apologized for ads showing children holding teddy bears in bondage outfits and others showcasing abuse law documents sex on children as an accessory.
The brand has admitted "a series of serious errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility" concerning the now-retired campaigns, which have drawn strong criticism in line and a $25m (£21m) lawsuit against the team behind one of them. /p>
The Business of Fashion website has rescinded its Global Award due to it being presented to the brand's creative director, Demna, at its annual gala dinner on Thursday, describing the images as "entirely inconsistent with our values". The site said its invitation to Balenciaga to attend and provide an explanation had been declined.
Monday, all eyes of industry will be glued to the Fashion Awards at London's Royal Albert Hall, where Demna, who does not use her surname, has been tipped to win Designer of the Year.The awards are decided by ballot secret of 1,000 members worldwide, and voting ended before the scandal broke.
The backlash relates to two separate ad campaigns. is about the Garde Robe photoshoot, in which actors Nicole Kidman and Isabelle Huppert posed in Manhattan offices. Attentive viewers spotted papers on a desk under a £2,800 purse in a US Supreme Court case asking whether child sex abuse images legislation restricts free speech.
Balenciaga said it all the elements of the shoot “were provided by third parties who confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents. They turned out to be real legal papers probably from the filming of a TV drama. Michaël Borremans, whose "Fire from the Sun" paintings include images of naked toddlers engaged in what gallery owner David Zwirner describes as "playful but mysterious acts with sinister overtones".
The company is now suing Nicholas Des Jardins and North Six, the filming designer and producers respectively, alleging "unexplainable acts and omissions" that were "malicious or, at the base, to say the least, extraordinarily reckless".
The fashion house, which achieved annual sales of £15billion in 2021, said it took "full responsibility for our lack of oversight" and "are closely reviewing our organization and our collective working methods".
This quarrel followed a backlash from its “Gift Shop” campaign: a series of portraits of children by Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti. It included girls holding handbags in the form of teddy bears wearing mesh vests and bondage harnesses, which first appeared in the brand's Spring 2023 runway. The juxtaposition of children with BDSM accessories was widely criticized and Balenciaga quickly apologized for "a bad choice".
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Luxury fashion house Balenciaga has apologized for ads showing children holding teddy bears in bondage outfits and others showcasing abuse law documents sex on children as an accessory.
The brand has admitted "a series of serious errors for which Balenciaga takes responsibility" concerning the now-retired campaigns, which have drawn strong criticism in line and a $25m (£21m) lawsuit against the team behind one of them. /p>
The Business of Fashion website has rescinded its Global Award due to it being presented to the brand's creative director, Demna, at its annual gala dinner on Thursday, describing the images as "entirely inconsistent with our values". The site said its invitation to Balenciaga to attend and provide an explanation had been declined.
Monday, all eyes of industry will be glued to the Fashion Awards at London's Royal Albert Hall, where Demna, who does not use her surname, has been tipped to win Designer of the Year.The awards are decided by ballot secret of 1,000 members worldwide, and voting ended before the scandal broke.
The backlash relates to two separate ad campaigns. is about the Garde Robe photoshoot, in which actors Nicole Kidman and Isabelle Huppert posed in Manhattan offices. Attentive viewers spotted papers on a desk under a £2,800 purse in a US Supreme Court case asking whether child sex abuse images legislation restricts free speech.
Balenciaga said it all the elements of the shoot “were provided by third parties who confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents. They turned out to be real legal papers probably from the filming of a TV drama. Michaël Borremans, whose "Fire from the Sun" paintings include images of naked toddlers engaged in what gallery owner David Zwirner describes as "playful but mysterious acts with sinister overtones".
The company is now suing Nicholas Des Jardins and North Six, the filming designer and producers respectively, alleging "unexplainable acts and omissions" that were "malicious or, at the base, to say the least, extraordinarily reckless".
The fashion house, which achieved annual sales of £15billion in 2021, said it took "full responsibility for our lack of oversight" and "are closely reviewing our organization and our collective working methods".
This quarrel followed a backlash from its “Gift Shop” campaign: a series of portraits of children by Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti. It included girls holding handbags in the form of teddy bears wearing mesh vests and bondage harnesses, which first appeared in the brand's Spring 2023 runway. The juxtaposition of children with BDSM accessories was widely criticized and Balenciaga quickly apologized for "a bad choice".
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