A little over a week after the clamor of Balenciaga’s latest campaign, Demna Gvasalia breaks her silence. The artistic director of the luxury brand issued a press release this Friday in which he apologized for this series of photographs in which children appear wearing sadomasochistic bags.
“I personally wish to apologize for the poor artistic choices surrounding the concept of our giveaway campaign involving children, and I take responsibility,” he wrote. “It was inappropriate for children to promote items that had nothing to do with them.”
“While I sometimes wish to be thought-provoking through my work, I would NEVER mean to do so with a subject as terrible as child abuse, which I strongly condemn,” he continues.
“Adequate measures will be taken”
The brand of the French group Kering aroused the ire of Internet users at the end of November with this series of photographs in which children appeared with handbags that presented stuffed animals dressed in sadomasochistic outfits. Accused of sexualizing children, the French label backtracked, pulling the campaign and apologizing.
“This episode should teach me a lesson,” Demna Gvasalia said in his press release. “I have to get involved with child protection organizations to understand how I can contribute to this terrible issue.”
And to conclude: “I apologize to anyone who has been offended by these images, and Balenciaga has guaranteed that appropriate measures will be taken, not only to prevent this type of error from happening again in the future, but also to assume its consequences.” responsibilities. in protecting the well-being of children in every possible way”.
double controversy
The scandal Balenciaga is facing is twofold: at the same time, another campaign starring Nicole Kidman, Bella Hadid and Isabelle Huppert was criticized for similar reasons.
In one of the campaign photos, a legal document, half-hidden by the office’s businesses, mentioned acts of child pornography, as detected by Internet users on Twitter. According to le figaroit would be an excerpt from a 2008 ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Balenciaga said that all props for the shoot were provided by a third-party production company and announced that they are suing them for $25 million, as reported. CNN At the beginning of the week.
In a new statement published on Friday, the president of the brand Cédric Charbit finally declares that no legal process will take place and announces a reinforcement of the control process around his images.
Source: BFM TV
