Balenciaga has been under heavy backlash following the release of an ad campaign that depicted child abuse. The adverts showed children holding teddy bears in bondage harnesses and costumes – BDSM.
Another ad reportedly promoting Balenciaga’s spring/summer 2023 collection in collaboration with Adidas showed a bag on top of some documents from the Supreme Court’s case of United States v. Williams. The ruling upheld the PROTECT (Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today) Act for federal protections against child pornography.
The photos below are from the adverts from Balenciaga that promoted child pornography and BDSM.
Responding to their ad, Balenciaga took full responsibility in a statement released online.
“WE WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING OUR RECENT AD CAMPAIGNS.
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 FIRST CAMPAIGN, THE GIFT COLLECTION CAMPAIGN, FEATURED CHILDREN WITH PLUSH BEAR
BAGS DRESSED IN WHAT SOME HAVE LABELLED BDSM-INSPIRED OUTFITS. OUR PLUSH BEAR BAGS
AND THE GIFT COLLECTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FEATURED WITH CHILDREN. THIS WAS A WRONG
CHOICE BY BALENCIAGA, COMBINED WITH OUR FAILURE IN ASSESSING AND VALIDATING IMAGES.
THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS LIES WITH BALENCIAGA ALONE.”
The photographer that took the child porn-related-Balenciaga ad shots, Gabriele Galimberti, denied having any involvement in choosing the content of the photographs. He said his work was just to click his camera snap button.
“I am not in a position to comment on Balenciaga’s choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither chose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.
As a photographer, I was only and solely requested to lit the given scene, and take the shots according to my signature style.”
However, the creative director of Balenciaga agreed in his statement to be the person behind the act. He agreed to have crossed the line into boosting child abuse in his quest to “provoke a thought”.
“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.”
However, Balenciaga has chosen not to pursue any lawsuit against anybody or party (internally and externally). In a statement from the CEO, Cédric Charbit, they revealed that some changes will be made within the company, especially in the area of internal control and image validation.
Despite their effort to curtail the bad publicity already dished out, Balenciaga seems to have been stamped in the bad books of many as one of the top firms encouraging pedophilia.
In London, a Balenciaga storefront was defaced with drawings of children protesting against being used as sexual objects. Two little boys and girls were drawn side-by-side with the inscription; “NOT 4 SEX” and “CHILDREN R NOT SEXUAL OBJECTS”.
