Kim Kardashian questions her partnership with Balenciaga, following their controversial campaign with kids

Never before a provocation since the appointment of Demna Gvasalia as head of its artistic direction in 2015, Balenciaga house did he cross the line? In question : two campaigns for spring-summer 2023. The first presents celebrities (Bella Hadid, Nicole Kidman or even Isabelle Huppert) in front of a desk cluttered with documents, one of which would correspond to a 2008 US Supreme Court opinion on child pornography. In the decor there is notably a nice book by the artist Michaël Borremans (whose work features children in strange positions and violent scenes) also questions. The second campaign features small, somewhat lost children holding bags in the shape of stuffed animals in BDSM harnesses.

It was enough for social networks to rise. Balenciaga then apologized on November 22, 2022 and his intention to take legal action. The luxury brand of the Kering group has now announced that it has filed a complaint against the North Six production house and production designer Nicholas Des Jardins, concerning ” the inclusion of these non-validated documents, the result of irresponsible negligence “. Hard to believe he would have designed everything himself without a whole chain of people from Balenciaga validating the images. Is the set designer just a useful fuse to blow up to satisfy popular opinion?

Kim Kardashian questions her status as a Balenciaga brand ambassador

In any case, it has risen even more since Kim Kardashian, the maison’s top ambassador for a few seasons, publicly expressed her indignation. The one who has appeared in several Balenciaga campaigns and has worn it to most of her recent red carpets, tweeted on Nov. 28, 2022:

“I’ve been quiet for the past few days, not because I’m not disgusted and outraged by Balenciaga’s recent campaigns, but because I wanted the opportunity to speak with their team to see for myself how this might have happened.

As a mother of four, I was shocked by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be given the utmost consideration, and any attempt to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society, period.

I appreciate the cancellation of the campaigns and the apologies from Balenciaga. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the problem and will take the necessary steps to ensure it never happens again.

As for my future with Balenciaga, I’m currently reevaluating my relationship with the brand.basing it on their willingness to accept responsibility for something that should never have happened in the first place – e the actions I expect them to take to protect children. »

What actions will Balenciaga take to redeem a virtue?

We can salute Kim Kardashian’s speech, which thus allows us to alert a much wider audience than the small fashion world already aware of this story. This microcosm isn’t necessarily outraged, accustomed to this kind of provocation from Balenciaga. This message from Kim Kardashian is also part of her repositioning of her image as a lawwoman whose voice has already saved women sentenced to death in the United States. While Ye, her ex-husband formerly known as Kanye West, never ceases to question her legitimacy as her mother, entrepreneur appears in the wake of this Balenciaga case as a personality committed to the defense of children.

It will be enough to donate large sums of money to child protection associations for the luxury home of the Kering group to redeem a virtue, even if its aesthetic since the appointment of Demna Gvasalia in 2015 is based so much on social provocation, even satanic codes? If we rely on the memoryless flows of fashion, it’s a safe bet that this story will quickly be forgotten, or even that the offending BDSM plush bags will increasingly become collector’s items. Case to follow.

Title of the photo: Balenciaga.