Balenciaga Apologizes for Holiday Campaign Featuring Children With Bondage Bear Bags
PARIS — Balenciaga has apologized for a holiday campaign featuring children posing alongside handbags shaped like stuffed bears dressed in bondage gear.
“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 removed the campaign from all platforms,” the brand said in a statement posted to its Instagram Stories.
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The bags were first touted by adult models in distressed outfits walking in the brand’s spring 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week, staged in a giant mud pit. Critics objected to the fact that the holiday campaign showed children posing with bears wearing items such as a leather chest harness, a collar with a lock, and ankle and wrist restraints.
The campaign was shot by Gabriele Galimberti, a National Geographic photographer whose Instagram page highlights a 10-year project called Toy Stories, featuring images of children photographed with their favorite toys.
Commentators also alleged that a photograph of a handbag, which was part of a separate spring 2023 campaign, included a document referencing a U.S. Supreme Court opinion about a child pornography case. Balenciaga did not confirm the nature of the document, but indicated it was sufficiently serious to trigger legal action.
“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our spring 2023 campaign photo shoot,” Balenciaga said.
“We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being,” it added.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Galimberti said he had been the target of hate mail and clarified that he was not the author of the handbag image.
“I am not in a position to comment Balenciaga’s choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither chose [sic] the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same,” he said. “Lynching like these are addressed against wrong targets, and distract from the real problem, and criminals,” he added.
Balenciaga recently made headlines after parent company Kering announced the fashion label was severing ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, following his increasingly controversial public comments, including antisemitic threats.
The brand’s holiday gift selection includes unusual items like a dog bowl in stainless steel ringed with big, threatening spikes, and candle holders shaped like beer cans.
