Balenciaga issued an apology after public backlash after their ad featured inappropriate photos of children holding teddy bears attired in bondage clothing: “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms,”

Balenciaga also acknowledged backlash over a photo for its Spring 23 collection, which social media critics said included a 2008 Supreme Court ruling tucked behind a handbag featuring The United States v. Williams ruling criminalized the pandering of child pornography.

Balenciaga posted the following on Instagram saying they would learn from their mistakes:

Balenciaga is owned by Kering, a French-based corporation that “also owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeeling as well as Kering Eyewear. Shop Accordingly. Fashion isn’t worth the safety of children.”

 

François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of Balenciaga’s parent company Kering Group also owns Christie’s auction house under Groupe Artémis, a holding company of Pinault. Christie’s has come under fire for selling grotesque mannequins of naked children with their facial features and other parts of their anatomy replaced by adult genitalia made by artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. The auction house has sold the brother’s graphic artwork for over twenty years, fetching prices up to $500k. So has Christie’s deliberately attracted a pedophile customer base over the years that it is now steering toward Balenciaga? And how deeply entrenched is Hollywood and the fashion industry in the exploitation of children? Very few have denounced the disturbing images in Balenciaga’s ad campaigns. Pinault is the husband of actress Selma Hayek and the CEO of Kering, the parent company of Balenciaga; Pinault and Hayek have been astoundingly silent on the disturbing photos and artwork.

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