Last Update: February 14, 2023, 08:30 IST
Balenciaga’s top executive said the gift shop campaign was designed to coincide with the end-of-the-year holidays to promote the product line. (Photos: Instagram)
Demna’s apology comes after a massive online outcry against the Spanish fashion house last year following its promotion of a handbag in the shape of a stuffed teddy bear with bonded-style straps held by children.
Luxury brand Balenciaga sparked a major controversy after a series of advertising campaigns featuring children. After two long months of radio silence, the fashion house’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia, has finally spoken out about the problematic ads.
Other than a statement on social media saying, “I personally want to apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for a gifting campaign with children,” Demna didn’t talk much about the detail of the criticism. He addressed this for the first time in a recent interview with Vogue, revealing the motivation behind these campaigns.
Balenciaga’s top executive said the gift shop campaign was designed to coincide with the end-of-the-year holidays to promote the product line. It was a wide range of unrelated products that required a concept in which several different products could be shot concurrently. The collection included children’s clothing, such as teddy bear bags referencing “DIY and punk culture (not BDSM)”.
He adds, “That was my biggest mistake. I didn’t know how unfair it would be to have these items [in the image] And there’s still the kid in the middle. Unfortunately this was a bad idea and a bad decision on my part. We should not have shown children images that included objects that were inappropriate and inappropriate for them. No one, including me, raised the question of its unfairness. It was an error of judgement. I am very sorry about it.”
Demna Gvasalia said that Balenciaga had learned from the incident and that more careful checking and verification steps would be implemented before releasing any images.
Demna said that although he is aware that his work has been seen as provocative, campaigning about the sexual abuse of children will never be part of his “provocative nature”. He told the publication that the most difficult thing for him in this saga is behaving. With the question, “How could I not see [the issue], Because it’s so clear to me now that it was the wrong thing to do.”
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