NEW YORK – In response to Balenciaga‘s apology for advertising portraying kids hugging teddy bears while wearing what some criticised as “bondage gear,” reality show star and social media behemoth Kim Kardashian said she is “re-evaluating” her relationship with the luxury fashion label.
The images from the advertising campaign for the Spring/Summer 2023 season were removed by the French company, which is a member of the upscale Kering group, last week. Two of them featured small kids holding teddy bear-shaped handbags that had silver studs on their black leather straps.
Internet commentators noted a different image from a Balenciaga-Adidas advertisement had printed copies of a US Supreme Court decision on child pornography.
Following the discovery of this information, Balenciaga reportedly sued the business that created the advertisements for $25 million.
Kardashian, a brand ambassador for Balenciaga, stated on Instagram on Sunday night, “As a mother of four, I have been horrified by the terrible photographs,” adding that she had spent the previous days speaking with the team “to understand for myself how this could have happened.”
“The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalise child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period,” she wrote.
“As for my future with Balenciaga, I am currently re-evaluating my relationship with the brand,” she posted to her 74 million followers account.
Balenciaga apologised on its own Instagram account last week for the disturbing incident.
Last month, after Kanye West, also known as Ye, posted an anti-Semitic tweet and appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter,” a jab at the Black Lives Matter racial equality movement, Balenciaga ended their collaboration with the rapper and designer who ironically is Kardashian’s ex-husband.
