Balenciaga pulls ad campaign showing children holding teddy bears 'in bondage gear'

23 November 2022, 12:14 | Updated: 23 November 2022, 12:59

Fashion brand Balenciaga has apologised over an advertising campaign showing children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear.

The photoshoot, part of the French label’s ‘Toy Stories’ campaign, features child models posing with the suggestive plush bear handbags from its Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 collection.

Critics were quick to point out that the bears were wearing BDSM gear such as fishnet tops, collars with locks and studded harnesses, and questioned if it was appropriate to use children to promote them.

The photoshoot, displayed for Balenciaga’s ‘Toy Stories’ campaign, also features a document detailing a Supreme Court opinion on child pornography, which can be spotted among papers strewn across a table.

Faced with fierce backlash, Balenciaga said it had pulled the images from all of its platforms. It said: "We sincerely apologise for any offence our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign.”

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The luxury label said it apologises for “displaying unsettling documents” in the campaign and said it strongly condemns the “abuse of children in any form”.

It also said it plans to seek legal action against parties responsible for the photoshoot, claiming it included “unapproved items”.

Expressing their disgust over the shoot, one critic tweeted: “I understand that a lot of Balenciaga’s marketing is the ‘shock factor’ of it all but this is just disgusting.”

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Another user added: “Balenciaga is very much cancelled in my eyes, I don’t care what explanation they come up with. Don’t mess with children.”

A third wrote: “Balenciaga severed their ties with @kanyewest due to a tweet. Yet they expect us to just ‘accept their apology’ after they get caught up sexualizing children?

“They’re not apologizing because they’re sorry. They’re apologizing because they got caught.”

Balenciaga cut ties with Kanye West in October over the rapper’s recent antisemitic comments. The musician made his modelling debut walking the brand’s mud-splattered runway just a few weeks before the announcement.

The label also quietly deleted its Twitter account in mid-November without elaborating further over as to why.

It comes after billionaire Elon Musk took over the social media platform, with advertisers expressing concerns over the entrepreneur’s changes to the site.