If you were hoping those behind Balenciaga’s controversial ad campaigns were going to face some repercussions for their work, we’re sorry to say it doesn’t look like the company is going to be making any changes to their team despite calls for action!
If you haven’t been keeping tabs on the high-fashion house’s ordeal, they were called out last month for releasing an advertisement featuring children cuddling teddy bear purses dressed in BDSM-style harnesses. A second photo shoot also featured Supreme Court documents discussing child porn laws. And there were several other unusual easter eggs hidden in the pics adding to the controversy as well!
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Balenciaga has released two statements on the matter, insisting they will be making charges and ensuring nothing like this will ever happen again. And yet, it doesn’t sound like anything is changing behind the scenes, at least not in a very significant way.
On Friday morning, the brand’s creative director Demna took to his Instagram to react to the company’s drama and take responsibility for his involvement in the gross creative choices. But in the post, he made it clear he’s NOT going to lose his job over this! Wut?! They’re really going to let this slide?? The 41-year-old Georgian’s apology began:
“I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids and I take my responsibility. It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them.
As much as I would sometimes like to provoke a thought through my work, I would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period.”
What was he trying to say with those creative choices then???
The fashion designer, who (before the scandal) was credited with boosting the profits of Balenciaga’s parent group, Kering, by $1 billion, then expressed his desire to “learn” from his mistakes, writing:
“I need to learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organizations to know how I can contribute and help on this terrible subject.
I apologize to anyone offended by the visuals and Balenciaga has guaranteed that adequate measures will be taken not only to avoid similar mistakes in the future but also to take accountability in protecting child welfare in every way we can.”
Ch-ch-check out the statement (below).
Once again, we can’t help but notice how Balenciaga’s plans moving forward are so vague. At this point, they need to stop saying they’re going to make a change and start proving it! Especially if they want to keep their customers happy…
According to DailyMail.com, there are several protests planned in multiple cities to take place over the weekend. Stars like Kim Kardashian and AnnaLynne McCord are also vowing to boycott the brand while social media is flooded with people throwing out or burning their luxury products. Those outraged aren’t just going after Balenciaga either, but anyone associated with them – whether that’s models who have yet to take a stand or retailers like Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman who continue to sell Balenciaga products.
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Meanwhile, the biz has been busy placing blame on just about everyone else!
While Demna and Balenciaga have taken responsibility for the BDSM bears, they have claimed the production company North Six and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins are the ones responsible for the legal docs making it into the photo shoot — and Balenciaga is taking legal action against them. But a Daily Mail source with knowledge of the photo shoot doesn’t buy it, saying no one from North Six was present when the docs were placed in the frame behind the handbag. Whaaat? They argued on Friday:
“Balenciaga wanted to keep it a closed set. North Six staffers were not there for the final staging of those document photos.”
The only people on set were “two Balenciaga staffers, the photographer, and a set assistant,” according to the insider, which isn’t unusual for a high-profile photo shoot, but it does beg the question: who’s responsible?!
Whether or not the production company had anything to do with the legal docs making it into the frame, the fact two separate photo shoots displayed so many references to child porn proves there’s a very alarming pattern of negligence at Balenciaga. Somebody (perhaps Demna?) should have understood how inappropriate these images were going to be. So, if no one’s getting axed, they better get a top-tier education on how wrong all this was! But what do U think, Perezcious readers? Let us know your reactions (below)!
[Image via Derrick Salters/WENN & Balenciaga/YouTube]
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