The issue people are most angry about concerns the recent campaign that featured children interacting with ‘bondage’ teddy bears. This caused an outcry on social media from people accusing the brand of sexualising children.
This controversy added to the outrage caused by the brand’s spring 2023 photoshoot which featured their bags on top of a printout of a supreme court document on child pornography and a book by Belgian artist photographer Michaël Borremans, whose earlier work has included photos of castrated children.
Online protest has included the Insta hashtag boycott Balenciaga.
Balenciaga is notorious for using shock tactics to promote its new collections. For example, the brand dressed Kim Kardashian in a full-body dress that covered her face for the 2021 Met Gala; and once released a $1,150 bag that was simply a toolbox with a handle on it.
After people began uploading videos of them destroying items bought from the luxury brand, others began vandalising stores with spray paint, and boycotting the brand.
At the end of November, the Bond Street was vandalised, and the word “Peadophile” was printed on the glass window over the Balenciaga logo.
After taking down the controversial content, Balenciaga released two statements, one of which said the company “strongly condemned child abuse” and never intended to include the idea of child abuse within its “narrative.”
Editor: Maxi Pfeifer
