FIt was an autumn of discontent for Balenciaga. Photos for the Parisian brand’s online store showed young children in a homey setting, with teddy bears wearing a leather fetish harness used in sadomasochistic bondage practices – with mesh tops, studded leather belts and collars with locks. The shitstorm was not long in coming: How can a luxury brand plan, produce and publish such photos in a week-long process involving dozens of permanent and freelance workers?
An advertising campaign also left a stale aftertaste: one picture showed papers with a writ from the US Supreme Court – the decision in the 2008 case “United States v Williams” confirms the constitutionality of the “Protect Act”, which regulates penalties for sexual exploitation and other abuses of children. The papers show that the issue of protecting children is actually considered when planning and producing shoots – but apparently not by the brand, which itself stages court documents. In addition, there was the scandal surrounding Ye, who only opened the Balenciaga show for spring and summer 2023 – and a little later made it impossible with his admiration for Hitler.
Personal apologies
Even then, the luxury brand, which belongs to the Kering Group, immediately apologized. On Thursday, more than two months after the incidents, chief designer Demna spoke in a detailed interview with “Vogue”. “I would like to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of the concept for the gift campaign with the children and I take responsibility,” he said. “It was inappropriate to have children promote objects that have nothing to do with them. As much as I sometimes want to provoke thought through my work, I would never intend to do so with a subject as horrifying as child abuse, which I condemn.”
Referring to the spring campaign photos with the office-style court papers, he said they were a nod to the location on Wall Street where the runway show took place last summer. Beforehand, he was shown what the offices could look like, what furniture would be used and what poses the models should make. “Since I’m never on a shoot, the images were presented to me so that I could choose the photos I liked best from the choices made by the photographer,” said Demna, who does not use his surname Gvasalia in his capacity as a designer. Apparently he overlooked the papers, which are not offensive in themselves, but were immediately related to the other advertising production in public.
The two photo productions, he said, were unrelated. The plush teddy bear bags paraded by adult models at the Ye-led Paris show in early October referred to punk and do-it-yourself culture rather than sadomasochistic BDSM practices. The photographer of the children’s pictures, Gabriele Galimberti, was used because of “the composition of his pictures”. The Italian photographer is best known for his “Toy Stories” series, which shows children with their many different toys. Adding dubious luxury bags to such toys, “that was my big mistake,” said the forty-one-year-old, who comes from Georgia, also lived in Germany as a young man and has been responsible for Balenciaga’s creative fortunes for eight years. “I didn’t realize how inappropriate it would be to put these objects in the picture and still have the child in the middle. Unfortunately, that was the wrong idea and a bad decision on my part. We should not have shown children in images that contain mismatched and inappropriate objects.”
The designer describes the time of the allegations in November and December as the “greatest hardship” of his life. Structural changes have been made at Balenciaga and an advisory board has been set up to review such advertising images in advance. They also support the organization National Children’s Alliance.
The designer’s statements at the start of the fashion season, which begins this weekend in New York, refute claims that he could be relieved of his duties at the luxury brand founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Aesthetically, Demna is now remorseful. With his collections, he wants to get closer to the company’s core business, he said. Balenciaga was not on the calendar for the couture shows in January. The brand has now scheduled a presentation at Prêt-à-Porter in Paris for March 5th. Now the fashion scene is curious to see what a Balenciaga show could look like without provocative designs.