Balenciaga’s creative directorDemna Gvasaliais finally speaking out.
Nearly two weeks following the immense backlash against the label for sexualizing children in its “Balenciaga Gift Shop” campaign, the designer has taken to Instagram to issue an apology.
“I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids and I take my responsibility. It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them,” Gvasalia, 41, wrote.
“As much as I would sometimes like to provoke a thought through my work, I would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period,” he continued.
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He ackowledged that he needs to “learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organizations” in order to “help on this terrible subject.”
The backlash began on Nov. 16, after the luxury fashion housereleased its holiday campaign.
On Nov. 24, Balenciaga released a statement on Instagram regarding the holiday ad, writing, “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.”
Hours later, the company released a second statement via Balenciaga’s Instagram story acknowledging the Garde-Robe campaign and apologizing for “displaying unsettling documents.”
Kim Kardashian, who’s held aclose relationship with the brandandwalked in its Paris Couture Fashion Week showin July, broke her silence regarding the controversy on Nov. 27.
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While acknowledging her appreciation for Balenciaga’s actions to remove and apologize for the campaigns, she noted that she would be “reevaluating my relationshipwith the brand.”
source: people.com
