After weeks of silence, Balenciaga’s controversial creative director Demna has finally addressed the BDSM ad scandal torched online for incorporating children with bondage gear and allegations of normalizing sexual fetishization and abuse of youngsters.
The Georgian clothier, who goes only by his first name, posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, vowing to “engage with child protection organizations.”
“I need to personally apologize for the incorrect artistic selection of concept for the gifting campaign with the youngsters and I take my responsibility. It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them,” the 41-year-old wrote.
“As much as I’d sometimes wish to provoke a thought through my work, I’d NEVER have an intention to try this with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period,” said Demna, who’s personal friends with Kim Kardashian and disgraced rapper Kanye West. “I would like to learn from this, listen and interact with child protection organizations to understand how I can contribute and assistance on this terrible subject.
“I apologize to anyone offended by the visuals and Balenciaga has guaranteed that adequate measures will probably be taken not only to avoid similar mistakes in the longer term but additionally to take accountability in protecting child welfare in every way we are able to,” he concluded.
Last week, the Kering-owned French fashion house issued its own statement together with a lawsuit against the production company chargeable for a few of the images.
For the uninitiated, the highest fashion label got here under fire after running a problematic campaign featuring young children modeling with what look like teddy bears wearing bondage gear. Meanwhile, one other ad showed what gave the impression to be legal documents from a Supreme Court case that ruled on federal laws regarding child pornography.
The style house has since apologized, pulled the ads, and vowed internal and external investigations. It also filed a $25 million lawsuit against the producers of one in every of the ads.
Demna’s apology comes after fashion designers blamed the mogul for failing to take responsibility for the scandal. Olga Liriano, who has spent years in the style industry as a model booker, photo director and top magazine editor, said it’s ridiculous to think Demna and the highest echelon at Balenciaga didn’t know what the campaigns were going to appear like once they were photographed. (The teddy bear ad was shot by Gabriele Galimberti, who has said he was told the theme was “punk.”)
“Oh please,” Liriano said of the Vetements co-founder. “Demna doesn’t put out one image that he hasn’t approved. Demna will not be only the creative director, he’s driving all of the imagery behind the campaigns. In charge a production company is nuts.”
Meanwhile, the Business of Fashion rescinded its Global Voices Award, which was as a result of have been presented to Demna at the web site’s annual gala on Thursday.
Balenciaga has previously been panned for Demna’s bizarre, pricey creations, like a $1,790 purse that resembled a trash bag in addition to his latest fashion show, which had models marching in war trenches.
Nevertheless, Demna wrote in his show notes that he “became a eternally refugee” when his family fled the war in his native Georgia when he was young, noting the conflict with Russia has “triggered the pain” from his past and highlighted the “absurdity” of sartorial spectacles.
“I spotted that canceling this show would mean giving in, surrendering to the evil that has already hurt me a lot for nearly 30 years,” Demna said. “I made a decision that I can now not sacrifice parts of me to that senseless, heartless war of ego.”
