Last week, Balenciaga came under fire just hours after releasing its latest holiday campaign, featuring two young girls holding teddy bears, which were dressed in chains and fishnet stockings, as Deseret News previously reported.
Other advertisements created by the fashion house were also scrutinized, including one where a Supreme Court opinion document of a child pornography case could be spotted.
In this spring 2023 ad, a black-and-white purse, retailing over $3,000, sits on top of scattered papers, some of which are a printout of the 2008 United States v. Williams decision that prohibits the pandering of child pornography, according to The Washington Post.
Balenciaga files a $25 million lawsuit over spring 2023 ad
Balenciaga filed a lawsuit against the production company responsible for designing the spring 2023 ads. But this company didn’t have any involvement in the holiday ads with the teddy bears, per The Fashion Law.
The fashion brand claimed that the defendants — North Six, Inc and Nicholas Des Jardins, the company’s agent and set designer — included certain documents in the spring 2023 campaign without the company’s knowledge or authorization.
They are seeking at least $25 million in damages that have resulted from the “false association” between Balenciaga and the Supreme Court decision, per the Post.
North Six declined to comment to The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Des Jardins’s agent, Gabriela Moussaieff, told the Post that the legal papers “were obtained from a prop house that were rental pieces used on film (and) photo shoots.”
“Everyone from Balenciaga was on the shoot and was present on every shot and worked on the edit of every image in post production,” Moussaieff said, adding that the set designer was “being used as a scapegoat.”
As the company pursues legal action against the spring 2023 ad with the court documents, it issued an apology for the holiday campaign with the images of children.
“Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. … We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being,” Balenciaga said in a statement posted on its Instagram story, per USA Today.
Both campaign ads in question have been removed from all platforms.
Kim Kardashian ‘shaken’ by Balenciaga controversy.
As the company files a lawsuit, big-name celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who has recently become the face of the brand, have spoken out against Balenciaga.
In a statement published to both Instagram and Twitter, Kardashian said that she was “shaken by the disturbing images” and promised to reevaluate her relationship with he fashion brand.
“I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened,” she wrote.
“The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period,” she said, adding that she appreciated that those campaigns were removed and an apology was issued.
“In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again,” Kardashian said.
She also stated that she is “re-evaluating” her relationship with the brand — and it depends on their “willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with — & the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children.”