Balenciaga advertises controversial BDSM teddy bear babies

For its Spring-Summer 2023 collection, Balenciaga revealed images in mid-November that caused much controversy. Some feature Bella Hadid, Nicole Kidman or even Isabelle Huppert enthroned in front of massive desks, such as boss girl haute couture: this is the “Garde-Robe” campaign, signed by Joshua Bright. Others show children with teddy bear bags dressed in harnesses and other accessories that can evoke the BDSM universe (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission). It is this “Vacanze” campaign, signed by Gabriele Galimberti, which has most outraged part of public opinion. He protests against this gratuitous provocation, exploiting children to rub them against an aesthetic clearly for adults with the capacity to acquiesce.

Because the new Balenciaga campaign with children and teddy bears is causing a scandal

So much so that the luxury house of the Kering group (which also owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, or even Bottega Veneta) ended up apologizing on the night between November 22nd and 23rd:

“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our teddy bear bags shouldn’t have been featured with children in this campaign. We immediately removed the campaign from all platforms. »

Does Balenciaga promote child pornography?

Except that the two campaigns would be linked according to the more experienced eyes that scrutinized the documents on the desks of the boss girl of the first campaign. Some would appear to be an excerpt from a 2008 US Supreme Court opinion regarding an obscure history of child pornography. It was time to legislate around the case of Michael Williams, accused of posting messages offering to exchange documents relating to child sexual abuse with other users, reports Le Figaro.

The Supreme Court ruling therefore ruled that offering or asking to transfer, sell, deliver orthe exchange of child sexual abuse material did not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. So inevitably, that this document appears on some images from the Balenciaga campaign, while others show children with stuffed bags raising questions.

The brand then mentioned this malaise in another part of its press release:

“We apologize for posting disturbing material in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are pursuing legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring/Summer 2023 campaign shoot. We strongly condemn any abuse of children in any form . We fight for the safety and well-being of children. »

the brand “Balenciaga” just did an uh…interesting…photoshoot for their new products recently which included a deliberately ill-hidden short document on “virtual child pornography”

normal stuff pic.twitter.com/zjMN5WhZ0s

— shoe (@shoe0nhead) November 21, 2022

Balenciaga now intends to sue the Joshua Bright campaign, with the document on child pornography, while the other campaign with children and bags-plush-harnesses photographed by Gabriele Galimberti will simply no longer be exploited.

Title of the photo: Balenciaga.