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Over the past few weeks, Balenciaga has released two campaigns that spurred online controversy, faced allegations of child abuse, trended on Twitter (not in a good way), filed a lawsuit, and issued a slew of statements. What happened? The answer is long and a little bit complicated, but we break down the timeline of the luxury fashion house’s latest controversy.
Mid-November: Release of Holiday and Spring 2023 campaigns – and subsequent setbacks
The Nov. 16, Balenciaga released the Balenciaga Gift Shop campaign, photographed by Gabriele Galimberti, to showcase a range of new gift products, including homewares, pet apparel, fragrances, collectibles and furniture, all “staged around children dressed in the Balenciaga Kids range,” per the brand. The press release said it was an extension of Galimberti’s existing Toy Stories series, which centers around children.
As photos began to circulate online, many on social media called out the styling, which included children carrying teddy bear handbags wearing suspenders and posing among empty wine glasses, accusing the brand of sexualizing minors and putting them in inappropriate positions. That led people to Balenciagas Joshua Bright-lensed office-themed Spring 2023 campaign – released on Nov. 21 (and covered by a range of business) – which included, among a number of props spread across a desk, a printed copy of the 2008 United States v. Williams decision on child pornography law.
Soon, Balenciaga and #BalenciagaGate were trending online, with controversial figures like Andrew Tate and Oli London, plus conservative commentators like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson bringing even more attention to both campaigns.
November 22: Balenciaga apologizes for both campaigns
After the backlash, Balenciaga pulled the Galimberti-shot holiday campaign on Nov. 22 and issued an apology on Instagram Stories, which has been saved in a “Highlight” on his Instagram page, titled “Statement”.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” the brand wrote. “Our Plus Bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”
Another apology followed, specifically for its spring 2023 campaign — as per Washington Postwas photographed in July: “We apologize for showing disturbing documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and will take legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved elements for our spring ’23 campaign photo shoot. We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being.”
November 23: Gabriele Galimberti issues a statement
Galimberti, the photographer behind the holiday campaign, posted a statement on his Instagram account. In it, he writes that he had no say in the products shown or how they were styled, and reiterates that he was not involved in Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 campaign.
Read the full text below.
“After the hundreds of hate mails and messages I received as a result of the photos I took for the Balenciaga campaign, I feel compelled to make this statement.
I am not in a position to comment on Balenciaga’s choice, but I must emphasize that I was in no way entitled to choose either the products or the models or the combination of the same.
As a photographer, I was only and solely asked to light the given scene and take the pictures according to my signature style.
As usual for a commercial shoot, the direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects shown are not in the hands of the photographer.
I suspect that any person prone to pedophilia searches the web and unfortunately has too easy access to images that are completely different from mine, absolutely explicit in their horrific content. Accusations like these are aimed at the wrong targets and distract from the real problem and criminals.
I also have no connection with the picture where a Supreme Court document appears. One was taken in a different outfit by other people and was falsely associated with my photos.”
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November 25: Balenciaga sues production company and set designer for spring 2023 campaign
The Nov. On the 25th, Balenciaga filed a lawsuit against North Six and Nicholas des Jardins — the production company and set designer, respectively, who worked on their spring 2023 campaign — in New York State Court, stating that the “inexplicable acts and omissions [were] malicious or at least extraordinarily reckless” and done without the brand’s knowledge, Washington Post‘s María Luisa Paúl reported. It is seeking at least $25 million in damages as a result of the “false connection” between Balenciaga and the “repulsive and deeply disturbing subject of” the Supreme Court in 2008 decision.
This was told by Gabriela Moussaieff, des Jardins’ agent Washington Post that his client was “being used as a scapegoat” and that “everyone from Balenciaga was on set and was present at every shot and worked on the editing of every image in post-production.”
In his analysis of the case, The model law suggests that while it is likely that Balenciaga approved the campaign—and perhaps even sent it through multiple rounds of approval, as is often the case in large companies—it is equally likely that “by approving and subsequently releasing the campaign, Balenciaga team missed the relatively hard-to-spot document that appears to be at the heart of Balenciaga’s lawsuit and its claim for damages.”
November 27: Kim Kardashian issues a statement
As the backlash against the brand grew, many awaited responses from Balenciaga’s frequent collaborators and ambassadors — specifically Kim Kardashian, who walked its haute couture runway this summer and has appeared in its campaigns. On Sunday Nov. 27, she issued a statement to social media confirming that she was “re-evaluating” her relationship with the house.
“I’ve been quiet the last few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak with their team to understand for myself how this could have happened,” she wrote. “As a mother of four, I am appalled by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held in the highest regard and any attempt to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period.”
“I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures to ensure this never happens again,” she continued. “Regarding my future with Balenciaga, I am currently reassessing my relationship with the brand and basing it on their willingness to take responsibility for something that should never have happened to begin with – [and] the actions I expect to see them take to protect children.”
November 28: Business of Fashion cancels Demna’s appearance at the annual Voices conference
Balenciaga creative director Demna — who has been the brand’s public face since joining in 2015 and heralded as an industry visionary but has remained largely silent on this controversy — was scheduled to appear at Business of fashion‘s 2022 Voices conference, taking place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, and received the Global Voices Award. However, on Nov. 28, the publication announced that it would no longer give him the credit and that it had “asked the management of Balenciaga to come to Voices to take responsibility for releasing these images and provide an explanation” – but that the brand refused.
November 28, Part Two: Balenciaga issued another statement
The brand issued another statement to the press and to its followers on social media.
“We would like to address the controversy surrounding the ad campaigns we received. We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intention to include it in our narrative. The two separate ad campaigns in question reflect a number of serious failings which Balenciaga takes responsibility for .
The first campaign, the Gift Collection campaign, featured children with teddy bear bags dressed in what some have called BDSM-inspired outfits. Our teddy bear bags and gift collection should not have been shown with children. This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure to evaluate and validate images. The responsibility for this lies solely with Balenciaga.
The second, separate campaign for Spring 2023, which was intended to replicate an office environment, featured a photo with a page in the background from a 2008 United States v. Williams Supreme Court ruling upholding the promotion of child pornography as illegal and not protected by free speech . All items included in this recording were provided by third parties who confirmed in writing that these items were fake office documents. They turned out to be real legal papers, most likely from the filming of a TV drama. The inclusion of these unauthorized documents was the result of reckless negligence, for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint. We take full responsibility for our lack of supervision and control of the documents in the background, and we could have done things differently.
While internal and external investigations are ongoing, we are taking the following actions:
– We are revising our organization and collective ways of working
– We are strengthening the structures around our creative processes and validation steps. We want to ensure that new controls mark a turning point and will prevent this from happening again.
– We are laying the groundwork with organizations that specialize in child protection and aim to stop abuse and exploitation of children.We want to learn from our mistakes and identify ways in which we can contribute. Balenciaga reiterates its sincere apology for the offense we have caused and apologizes to talent and partners.
We will continue to update this story as it develops.
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