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Balenciaga A brand Associated With Child Abuse - By Cynthia Abdallah, Maria Helou & Rim Shokor

Balenciaga A brand Associated With Child Abuse – The world of fashion is in constant progress and competition. Many famous brands aim to the highest evaluation and strive for internationalism at various levels of marketing and sales. In short, every major fashion brand is looking to leave a mark in the history of fashion. That was the intention of Balenciaga. Now, and in less than six months, Balenciaga is seeking to start anew by presenting its Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show. It will be led by Demna, during Paris Fashion Week on March the 5th.

The multi-billion-dollar company caused a mess on social media, traditional media, and all over the world because of its latest scandals and “Gift Collection” in November 2022 which featured young kids holding “teddy bears with bondages. The idea of these Bears was described as an edgy and provocative act that should not be paired with children. On November 22, Balenciaga turned off comments on its Instagram page. They posted a Story apologizing for its holiday gifting campaign.

Balenciaga A brand Associated With Child Abuse

Other images were found with props relating to child sexual exploitation. This collaboration was photographed right before the release of the new collection. It contained lawsuit documents from a 2008 court case about the promotion or advertisement of child pornography to be protected by Free Speech.

Another image of Balenciaga’s scrapped Spring ’23 campaign included a Michael Borrerman’s book shown in the background. An artist (Belgian painter) whose works include castrated toddlers. His work also featured children and adults engaging in acts of violence including cannibalism.

The fact is, whether these images were selected by Balenciaga themselves or not, the choice to feature the documents, the books, the Bears in a campaign was deliberate. Balenciaga approved it.

Speaking For the First Time After The Scandals 

Demna, Balenciaga designer spoke for the first time after the scandals last month, February 2023. He said he was “shocked” and “completely stunned” to learn about the court document props seen in the background of another Balenciaga ad, printed with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of United States v. Williams — which confirmed that First Amendment rights did not include the promotion of child pornography.

“From my personal point of view, as creative director, I will have to question absolutely everything now. It really changes my way of working, which has previously been more instinctive – doing something that would be seen as maybe provocative just because I was thinking, ‘Oh, that’s fun,’” Demna said.

The Declining Sales

Now Balenciaga is reorganizing its image department and it will appoint a new image director as per Barbara Kollmeyr in her article “Sales ot Balenciaga continue to suffer after child marketing scandal” on the 15th of February 2023. Is it enough to keep them in business? Did the pubic forgive Balenciaga?

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