Balenciaga: Pushing the Boundaries of Fashion or Desperate to Stay Relevant?
High fashion has always been in the cultural conversation. Fashion shows and red carpet outfits consistently have people talking. Take, for example, Lady Gaga’s meat dress from the 2010 VMAs, or the recent Coperni show where they sprayed a dress onto Bella Hadid. Most of the time, the point of these outfits is to elicit a response from the general public. The brand has to stay relevant in order to make a profit. As the saying goes, all press is good press. However, this is not always true, as is the case of Balenciaga’s most recent campaign.
The Spanish fashion house is under heat as they photographed children posing alongside teddy bears accessorized in BDSM gear. People understandably took issue with this. Having children exposed to explicit content at such a young age is not right in any situation. The hashtag “#cancelBalenciaga” quickly began trending and discourse started to break out, all of which was negative. The brand spoke on the subject by releasing a statement which in it they say “the responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone.” This ownership of blame comes after they filed a $25 million lawsuit against the set director and North Six, Inc., their marketing agency. The public was outraged by this response, blaming Balenciaga for their lack of oversight and attempting to relieve themselves of any accountability.
The lawsuit would make sense if this was Balenciaga’s first offense. There could have been a chance they were not consulted in the direction of the shoot and all fault was to be placed on the photographers. However, after reviewing other photo shoots that Balenciaga has done, this lack of regard for child safety seems to be a recurring pattern for them. In a recent collaboration in May of this year with Adidas, a bag was photographed on top of a sprawling of papers, one of which was a 2008 Supreme Court document which pertained to “Virtual Child Porn.” A weird ruling to place in a luxury fashion ad. Balenciaga proves to have a track record with this issue and is only taking action after being publicly condemned.
So, what is in store for the future of the brand? The creative director, Demma, has said that they hold “the safety of children in the highest regard.” But all are not so quick to forgive. Kim Kardashian, an ambassador of the house, said she is re-evaluating her relationship with the brand and basing her future off of their willingness and determination to put the safety of children first. This is an issue one would not consider as an important stance to take when entering the world of fashion, yet here we are. TikTok allowed for a more raw conversation to occur. Julia Fox, who has gained a reputation for speaking without a filter, inserted her take on the controversy. She said, “I think it’s horrific and when I was reading and watching all the videos I literally felt sick to my stomach.” She does not place blame on the fashion industry as a whole, but instead men in high powered positions. With influencers and celebrities tearing down the brand, the public image of Balenciaga is not in the good graces of the world.
It is said that they are taking the necessary steps to conduct an internal investigation into the incident. This is obviously a good thing, even if they are doing it reluctantly and against their will. I believe they thought that this boundary pushing campaign would be the next big thing to blow up online. “BDSM Teddy Bears take over the internet” would have been a headline they were going for. Yet they took it a step too far. Balenciaga is going to have to undergo a major rebranding and PR shift. It is important to take ownership of the mistake and pledge to never be involved in the conversation of pedophilia or child endangerment ever again, unless it is to raise awareness. They made the correct choice to take down the bears from the website and no longer allow them to be purchased. Still, the question is raised as to who this product was made for in the first place. Children to play with luxury BDSM bears? Adults to have as an art piece on display? It seems like an odd choice for Balenciaga to add this to their product line. Moving forward, I think the brand needs to be observed under a microscopic lens, as any misstep will lead to even more scrutiny and possibly even external investigation if they keep up these nefarious activities.
