The last few days, Balenciaga, a top name in luxury fashion, has been dealing with a lot of unwanted attention from two of its latest ad campaigns.
Ads showed a child with a teddy bear dressed in black leather and chains, which many people thought was strange and inappropriate. The other ad was even more shocking, as it included a pile of legal papers, one of which mentioned a Supreme Court decision on a sensitive topic.
Not long after the release, Balenciaga’s ad campaigns faced heavy backlash. In response, the brand pulled the ads, took legal action against the agency behind them, missed out on an award, and made multiple public statements. Let’s break down how it all happened and what it means moving forward.
The Truth Hidden in the Campaigns
Balenciaga’s Christmas 2022 and Spring 2023 ad campaigns quickly became the center of attention and sparked public debate. The Christmas ad, shot by photographer Gabriele Galimberti, featured teddy bear-shaped bags with leather straps. These bags were meant to look fun and unique, but many people thought they looked too similar to adult-style fashion, which made the ad feel uncomfortable for some. The Spring 2023 campaign, photographed by Chris Maggio, also ended up adding to the growing backlash.
In their Spring campaign, Balenciaga and Adidas surprised everyone with an unexpected collaboration. Especially after both brands had recently cut ties with Kanye West due to separate controversies. One striking image from the campaign shows a Balenciaga x Adidas bag casually resting on a desk, surrounded by papers, folders, a laptop, and scattered legal documents, adding a sense of intrigue to the scene.
The main issue centers around the legal documents. One of them seems to reference, although not very clearly, a Supreme Court decision related to the PROTECT Act. This 2003 law clearly states that certain illegal content involving children is not protected by the First Amendment’s free speech rights.
How It All Played Out
Social media was quick to react. Once Twitter users noticed the text in the document around November 20, the outrage spread like wildfire. Fashion voices like Diet Prada jumped on the story, and it rapidly gained momentum, reaching major media outlets. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was one of the first to bring it into the spotlight.
As the backlash grew stronger, Balenciaga took down both ad campaigns from social media. Kim Kardashian, a long-time ambassador for the brand, shared a post on Sunday saying she would be “reassessing her relationship” with them.
Demna Gvasalia, the creative force behind Balenciaga, is widely known by just his first name. He was about to receive the Global Voices Award from Business of Fashion next week, in recognition of his work in raising awareness about social issues and championing marginalized communities through his platform.
Later, the publication took to Instagram to announce that they were pulling back the offer. Instead of honoring Demna, Business of Fashion said they would invite Balenciaga to the event to explain what went wrong. However, according to their statement, Balenciaga chose not to show up.
How did things get to this point?
Although the complete details of how the two campaigns came together are still unknown, we do know that three key players were behind them: Balenciaga. The North Six agency and the photographers, Chris Maggio and Gabriele Galimberti, were selected to capture the vision.
November 25, On Friday, Balenciaga took a bold step, filing a $25 million lawsuit against North Six for their role in the spring ad. That controversially featured Supreme Court documents. Surprisingly, no legal action was taken against photographer Chris Maggio. Balenciaga described the decision to include those documents as either “purposely harmful or, at the very least, incredibly careless.”
A spokesperson for North Six told the New York Post that they did not influence the creative direction of the ad. Chris Maggio, the photographer behind the spring campaign, has yet to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, Gabriele Galimberti, who shot the teddy bear ad, took to Instagram to clarify. That he, too, had no creative control over his shoot. His role was focused on technical aspects like lighting and framing. He emphasized that the idea of pairing child models with teddy bear bags was already decided before he came on board.
Balenciaga’s Legal Response Raises More Questions Than Answers
In the end, it looks like Balenciaga, North Six, and the photographers are all pointing fingers at each other, each claiming the others are to blame.
A lawyer Rania Sedhom, with a focus on fashion law, shared that this lawsuit feels just as strange and out of sync with everything else happening in the midst of the controversy.
Rania Sedhom brought up some crucial questions regarding Balenciaga’s lawsuit. “Who was behind creating the mood board for the photoshoot? Was there a Balenciaga team member present on set? And how many people from the brand signed off on the final ads?” she asked.
What’s interesting is that Balenciaga hasn’t taken any legal action. Over the teddy bear ad, which wasn’t connected to North Six. It’s still unclear whether a creative agency had any part in creating that ad, and Balenciaga hasn’t responded to anyone who reached out for comment.
“Rania Sedhom raised a thought-provoking question, asking, ‘If a lawsuit stems from that image, who will Balenciaga hold accountable?'”
What’s Next for Balenciaga: The Road Ahead?
Recently, Balenciaga, a top brand under Kering, has been caught in a storm of controversy. The fallout with Kanye West caused serious damage to the brand’s reputation. But that wasn’t the end of it. Over the past year, Balenciaga has found itself in even more hot water, with a pair of $2,000 sneakers. That looked intentionally worn out, and boxers that sparked outrage for cultural appropriation.
Over the past two weeks, Balenciaga has issued several apologies for the controversial ad campaigns, expressing deep regret for the fallout. Despite these attempts to make amends, the brand’s reputation remains under fire, with the backlash continuing to dominate social media.
Take Dolce & Gabbana, for example. After facing its own set of controversies in 2019, the brand proved that even in the world of high fashion. A major scandal doesn’t have to be the end. Instead, it can lead to a comeback, with the brand emerging stronger and more successful than ever.
Dolce & Gabbana, a well-known Italian fashion brand, faced major criticism. When one of their ads and some leaked private messages were seen as racist. Many people called for a boycott. But despite the backlash, the brand managed to fix its image and made a strong comeback. Even today, big celebrities like Kim Kardashian continue to work with them.
It would hurt if Kim Kardashian stepped away, but Balenciaga isn’t just any label. It’s a billion-dollar force, and giants like that don’t crumble so easily.
