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Balenciaga's creative director apologises over controversial campaign after being criticised by Kim Kardashian

Home> News

Published 11:29 3 Dec 2022 GMT

Balenciaga's creative director apologises over controversial campaign after being criticised by Kim Kardashian

Kardashian said the campaign 'should have never happened'

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Balenciaga's creative director has issued a personal apology for a controversial Christmas advertising campaign which sparked backlash from Kim Kardashian.

Amid a flurry of adverts for festive food and gift ideas, Balenciaga's holiday campaign featured children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear, while surrounded by an assortment of items including a spiked dog bowl and a love heart shaped chair.

It initially said the campaign 'iterates on the artist's series Toy Stories, an exploration of what people collect and receive as gifts', but before long the company apologised for causing offence with the controversial and shocking images.

Balenciaga has since removed its campaign.
Balenciaga

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Kardashian was among those who spoke out about the campaign after a few days of silence, which she said she needed to speak to Balenciaga's team 'to understand for [herself] how this could have happened'.

"As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images," she wrote. "The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period.

"I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again."

Kardashian added that she was 're-evaluating her relationship' with the brand as a result of the campaign, which creative director Demna Gvasalia has now taken responsibility for.

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Kardashian strongly condemned the campaign.
@KimKardashian/Twitter

In a message shared online, Gvasalia wrote: "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."

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Gvasalia said he needs to learn from the mistake, as well as 'listen and engage' with child protection organisations for knowledge on how he can 'contribute and help on this terrible subject'.

Gvasalia admitted the campaign was 'inappropriate'.
demnagram/Instagram

"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," he concluded.

The creative director also shared a statement from chief executive Cedric Charbit which said the company recognised 'the need to do better'.

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Charbit added that Balenciaga had made moves to ensure better control over content in future, and that it would be donating 'a significant fund' to organisations which will help protect children.

Featured Image Credit: Balenciaga / LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy

Topics: Fashion, Kim Kardashian

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

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