‘Balenciaga is cancelled in my eyes’- Tweeps not buying Balenciaga’s apology for controversial ad

Balenciaga subsequently pulled their holiday campaign after receiving backlash saying they are taking legal action against the parties responsible.


Luxury fashion house, Balenciaga, issued an apology after BDSM children’s range gets middle finger for ‘sexualising children’.

Tweeps are, however, not buying into Balenciaga’s apology citing the fashion brand is merely apologising because “they got caught”.

The fashion house subsequently pulled their holiday campaign from their website after receiving backlash.

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‘We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form’

Taking to their Instagram story, Balenciaga apologised for “any offense” the ad campaign may have caused.

“We sincerely apologise 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.

“We apologise 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 photoshoot. We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being,” the brand wrote.

Picture: Balenciaga’s Instagram story screengrab

The advertisements supported Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which debuted at Paris Fashion Week, and featured two minor girls posing with teddy bears that appear to be wearing BDSM-style harnesses.

Tweeps up in arms

The campaign was not well received and created an uproar on social media.

“Balenciaga is very much cancelled in my eyes, I don’t care what explanation they come up with. Don’t mess with children,” Gia wrote on Twitter.

“Balenciaga severed their ties with @kanyewest due to a tweet. Yet they expect us to just “accept their apology” after they get caught up sexualising children? They’re not apologising because they’re sorry. They’re apologising because they got caught,” American conservative activist CJ Pearson tweeted.

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