Gucci, McQueen, other mega fashion brands silent on Balenciaga ad depicting children with BDSM teddy bears
The mega fashion brand published an ad campaign depicting children with teddy bears in bondage-style attire
Balenciaga’s parent company, Kering, along with other major fashion brands under it, have been silent on the controversial ad campaigns which depict children with teddy bears in bondage-style attire and included court documents about child pornography. Kering and other fashion brands did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital about whether the brands support minors being featured in ads with bondage-style clothing.
The first of the controversial campaigns, titled Balenciaga Gift Shop, was published earlier in November, depicted children clutching handbags made from teddy bears in fishnet tops and leather harnesses. Wine glasses, sunglasses and other items were displayed around the kids.
Days later, Balenciaga released their 2023 Garde Robe campaign featuring prominent figures like Nicole Kidman and Bella Hadid. The campaign, which was made to look like an office setting, included paperwork from a Supreme Court case about child pornography.
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A Balenciaga store. (iStock / iStock)
A firestorm began to brew on social media with critics connecting the two ads, and accusing the fashion brand of normalizing child pornography. Balenciaga later apologized in a statement on social media, deleting all other posts.
"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 read.
Balenciaga’s parent company, Kering, and other mega fashion brands in the same group, such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Saint Laurent have remained silent.
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A woman walks by a boarded up Balenciaga store, Tuesday, June 2, 2020, on Madison Avenue in New York. ( (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) / AP Newsroom)
Kering, who before the controversy arose posted on Twitter several times a day, has not tweeted since November 20. The company did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry about whether the parent company approves of the ad campaigns, and what safeguards are being put in place to ensure similar photos are not published by other brands under their purview. Kering also did not state whether it plans to part ways with Balenciaga over the campaign.
Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital about whether BDSM-style attire has a place in the high fashion world, or whether minors should be featured in ads with this style of clothing. The companies also did not respond to questions about how they would ensure similar ad campaigns were not produced.
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Kim Kardashian has been a prominent face of Balenciaga. (Gotham/GC Images) / Getty Images)
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Kim Kardashian, who has been the face of Balenciaga, said she was "shaken by the disturbing images," and appreciated the brand's apology. She also said that she is "re-evaulating" her relationship with the brand.
"I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened," Kardashian tweeted in a long Twitter thread.