Has Balenciaga Recovered From The Child Campaign Scandal?
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- In 2022, an ad campaign featuring children holding teddy bears in bondage harnesses and costumes embroiled both Balenciaga and its designer, Demna, in controversy. Since then, the company has been on an arduous journey toward rehabilitation. Four runway shows, six collections, and a handful of red-carpet outfits later, fashion and celebrity circles alike seem to have warmed back up. In January, the brand came full circle: Just over a year after Kim Kardashian claimed to be “reevaluating” her long-standing relationship with the brand in the wake of the scandal, she’s launched her first campaign as Balenciaga’s official ambassador. By all appearances, the brand is at the end of its road to redemption - at least for now.
What was the Balenciaga scandal all about?
In November 2022, Balenciaga released its holiday ad campaign featuring children holding teddy bears in bondage harnesses and costumes. (The BDSM accessories were also on the runway at Balenciaga’s show at Paris Fashion Week.) The backlash against the images was swift, with the hashtag #cancelBalenciaga trending across Twitter and TikTok and many accusing the brand and its creative director, Demna, of condoning pedophilia and child exploitation. In a separate ad that dropped later that month, a bag from the fashion house’s collaboration with Adidas was photographed atop copies of what appear to be documents from the Supreme Court case United States v. Williams, a ruling that upheld the PROTECT Act, which increased federal protections against child pornography. Both campaigns quickly became a conservative talking point and sparked conspiracy theories.
Right-wing conspiracy theorists also latched on to and circulated photos taken out of context from the Instagram account of stylist Lotta Volkova that portray scenes of violence and satanic images. According to a representative, Volkova hasn’t worked with Balenciaga since 2017. Alexandra Gucci Zarini, a children’s-rights advocate and heiress of Gucci, criticized Gucci’s “HA HA HA” campaign, which appeared to show Harry Styles posing with a toddler-size mattress. “My concerns are that there seems to be a common ideology across Kering’s Fashion Houses,” she wrote. (Both Balenciaga and Gucci are owned by Kering.)
Kim Kardashian and Julia Fox condemned the campaign.
Following the backlash to the ad, Kim Kardashian - a vocal supporter of the brand who had recently included a cameo from Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna, on her Hulu show, The Kardashians - issued a statement on Instagram and Twitter. “I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns,” she wrote. Her statement went on to say she was currently reevaluating her future relationship with the brand, “basing it off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with.”
Julia Fox made her own series of statements on TikTok. “I have zero relationship with the brand. I’ve never even been to one of their shows; they haven’t invited me,” Fox said. “Regardless, I think it’s horrific, and when I was reading and watching all the videos I literally felt sick to my stomach.” She went on to say this was not a problem of Hollywood or the fashion industry but an issue with “men.”
Following the backlash to the ads, The Business of Fashion rescinded its 2022 Global Voices Award offer to Demna, noting that it holds “the safety of children in the highest regard.” The fallout even extended to one of Balenciaga’s brick-and-mortar stores in London, where a street artist appeared to have defaced the storefront of its flagship, stenciling “paedophilia” on one of the windows, according to Newsweek. There were also reports of a store near the Beverly Hills shop on Rodeo Drive being defaced.
Balenciaga is known for its unconventional campaigns and shows, including runway presentations in which models have trudged through mud and blizzardlike conditions in expensive high-end clothing. In her review of the brand’s spring 2023 show, the Cut’s fashion critic Cathy Horyn wrote, “Of late, Demna’s choices have been sometimes morally questionable.” Balenciaga has become synonymous with subversiveness, and though the father of one of the child models featured in the campaign told the Daily Mail he believed it had been “blown out of all proportion,” for many consumers the campaign crossed the line from provocative to harmful.
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#fashion #luxury #balenciaga - Zábava
My friend at Kering said that Balenciaga is doing horrible across all channels since the debacle….
I think Amy Odell interviewed someone who works for the brand and I recall them saying something similar.
Same as any 'cancel' campaign - the people outraged weren't the people buying Balenciaga anyway. Could say the same with Yeezy sneakers too. That said though it still has some lasting impact with the major mainstream brands still putting their collaborations on hold (adidas, Supreme, etc.)
And then when you want to cancel something they consume they hit you with the “no ethical consumption under capitalism”
Kanye recently said F*** Balenciaga. The trend forecast says Balenciaga is so mainstream it's no longer in vogue.
You are comparing pedophiles with kanye westm
Yes, Asian customers are less concerned about political influence. A scandal or reputation of a western brand is irrelevant to most Asian customers. But the content you publish on your channel is very effective and as an Asian fashion student and customer I have been watching your videos and recommending them to people around me.
Glad you find my videos helpful ❤️
Maybe overkill, but I unfollow celebrities or influencers who wear, tag or even somewhat promote them. The tough part about modern society is everything is so quick moving that a massive scandal today is a fleeting thought tomorrow. For me personally, it was way too disturbing and blatant to forget.
Same. I do the same thing for people affliated with D&G too.
I sold my one and only bag! I have not forgotten!! It’s sickening how this gets swept under the rug 😡
The entire luxury fashion industry is something I have a bone to pick with - slave labor, environmental destruction, and reinforcement of meaningless status symbols. We should support ethical, sustainable, and smaller independent brands. We should embrace vintage and second-hand. And not buy more than we use or need. For a while, the richest man in the world (after a brief dip for Musk) was the owner of multiple luxury goods companies. It's scary how much power they hold.
My thoughts exactly. Support the small businesses of craftsmen, especially local ones where you can actually get more accurate infos about the production process and materials, have products sometimes custom made and you can support creativity.
Seems like they recovered. The majority of people forget quickly , & their loyal customers may have not been too concerned with the scandal anyways
I don't think so I think it's still pretty bad press they're just trying very hard to write over it but it's still lying right there in our faces and also sales are not great and and they haven't moved on in years as far as fashion goes
We still talking about it, so I’d say no
Asia is not really politically concerned in this same way as the western world, its business as normal in asia for balenciaga
- for me, the whole entire creative team needs a rehaul, but there is a deeper issue with Kering itself so what do you do
The Asian consumers didn’t boycott Dolce & Gabbana with the whole chopstick fiasco, so they clearly only care about conspicuous consumption and competing with each other for status. Of course they’re still shopping Balenciaga. Here in Toronto, they appear to be the major who still shop there while most others are still avoiding in store (probably secretly shopping online)!
@@donnapug precisely my point, and the fact that westerners were up in arms over the D&G situation and asians were not, just says the current state of our world 🤣
@@hollygrace6814Asians were deeply offended. The issue is people forget fast because info is constantly new. You don’t have a clue.
@@HS-ie8tj Hello, I lived in Asia, I do have a clue, but perhaps not the whole perspective. but neither do you.
Did they ever provide an explanation as to why they included the imagery they did in those ads/products?
Not really. Demna put some dumb apology on insta but it was so insincere
they said it was an accident and they didnt know about it
Definitely a tough decision for those who are fans of the brand and have invested in pieces to walk away. Morality versus self-esteem/ fond memories that were attributed to the garments. I still have several pieces but the only ones in my rotation have been sunglasses and a faux fur scarf. Where I’m at in Canada, it seems that during this recession people are moving away from wearing garments with a predominant logo. Perhaps due to the trend of quite luxury, depending on the setting being flamboyant almost seems intrusive now. That could be possibly why I’ve stayed away from my other Balenciaga garments that are easily identifiable. Same with other brands though like Gucci/LV but surprising I don’t feel the same about Burberry.
I believe it's only cancelling if it's their own community/consumers for the most part--and the outrage of those who don't fit that label quickly got diffused into whatever else came along five minutes later (and there's always something)
I can tell you the photographer and his original concept have been burned, though. I'm not surprised, just disappointed.
I think people ignored it because of the “think of the kids” rhetoric. It was a thing but not the invasion of Iraq type manufactured outrage conservatives were making it out to be.
No.
They should of got rid of Demna the oversized fear of god sweatsuits and Hellraiser look and bdsm thing is old bring back classic style to balenciaga not bdsm looks just saying
I think Demna should leave Balenciaga soon, the right time is now. Its gotten too big too commercial, the way Balenciaga operates contradict with his design language and values.
Yeonmi Park’s book might explain it all on how certain Asian countries respond to CA CM CP etc
Yeonmi Park is a blatant propagandist. Why would you trust anything she says?
That woman is a racist right wing hack.
You know how cooked you’d have to be mentally to believe anything park has said. Lmao
Hmm would you kindly refer a link to help educate me rather than be so reactionary, disrespectful and argumentative bc you hold a different perspective? I would much prefer a dialogue than an squabble. If you know something I don’t, I’m opening to seeing your point of view.
Nothing happened
i think this campaign was never that intentionally creepy. it never really mattered. conservatives made it more than it ever was. nobody i know was wearing balenciaga before and we damn sure arent now
Word. 🙏🏼
nobody cares
you do
@@RozWBrazel nah