Balenciaga has come under fire after using children to promote sexually explicit content.

It featured an ad with children holding teddy bears in bondage harnesses and costumes.

The ads were part of a series of disgusting promos featuring children in sexual settings.

Its recent 2022 “Gift Collection” showed various children standing on a sofa holding a teddy in leather bondage gear in front of a table that contained several BDSM items on it. 

The BDSM accessories were also on the runway at Balenciaga’s show at Paris Fashion Week.

BDSM is a type of sexual fetish that centres around pain, humiliation, and painful, gothic-looking tools, chains, and whips.

Balenciaga also featured an office-themed ad that contained a reference to a Supreme Court case on child porn. The documents refer to the Ashcroft vs Free Speech Coalition Court case in 2022 that adjudicated on whether child sexual abuse imagery legislation curtails freedom of speech rights.

Another ad featured an unhappy-looking child lying on their stomach, with a bondage teddy behind them, and wine glasses behind them. 

Campaigners argued that its collection normalizes sexual violence and violent child porn. 

The brand subsequently received swift backlash following the ads, with the hashtag #cancelBalenciaga trending across Twitter and TikTok.

After public pressure, some celebrities said that they might cut ties with the brand. 

Balenciaga responded to the outcry by claiming that a renegade photographer was responsible for the ads. It issued a statement apologizing for causing ‘offense.’

In a statement released to the media, the brand claimed: “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

However, following additional backlash, Balenciaga released a second statement hours later acknowledging the Garde-Robe “office” campaign which featured the Ashcroft vs Free Speech Coalition court documents. “We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photo shoot. We strongly condemn the abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being.”

Balenciaga’s 2023 spring collection featured many bondage-related fashion items, that have chains, and bondage teddies. It also featured pictures of bruised and battered-looking models holding up bondage teddies. 

However, Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 campaign also highlighted that fashion clothing based on bondage gear was in line with the brand’s image which could perhaps indicate that it is unlikely to be the work of some creepy, lone photographer. 

The fashion giant also failed to explain how the disturbing ads managed to make it through the approval process. 

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