Amid fierce backlash, Balenciaga has issued a grovelling second apology over the controversial ad campaign that depicted young children alongside bondage-style attire and a child pornography court ruling.
The Kering-owned fashion house released the apology in an Instagram post on Monday, New York Post reports.
“We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in the narrative,” the luxury couture company wrote in the statement.
The campaign which caused the outrage feature children in Balenciaga apparel, holding plush toys that are wearing bondage get-ups.
The brand was quick to pull the ads, and is now condemning the controversial campaign, writing: “Our plush bear bags and the gift collection should have not been featured with children.
“This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images,” the fashion label said.
“The responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone.”
Elsewhere in the apology, the company also addressed the inclusion in one of the ads of legal documents from a Supreme Court case that ruled on child pornography laws.
“The second, separate campaign for spring 2023, which was meant to replicate a business office environment, included a photo from a page in the background from a Supreme Court ruling ‘United States v. Williams’ 2008 which confirms as illegal and not protected by freedom of speech the promotion of child pornography,” Balenciaga wrote.
“All the items included in this shooting were provided by third parties that confirmed in writing that these props were fake office documents.
“They turned out to be [real legal] papers most likely coming from the filming of a television drama.”
Balenciaga attributed the “inclusion of these unapproved documents” to “reckless negligence”, presumably by a contract worker hired for the photo shoot, who “Balenciaga has filed a complaint” over.
Indeed, the brand has reportedly since filed a $US25 million ($A37.6 million) lawsuit against the parties allegedly responsible – production company North Six and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins and his namesake company.
However, Balenciaga wrote on Instagram that it takes “full accountability for our lack of oversight and control of the documents in the background”.
Celebrities were quick to condemn the ads, including brand ambassador Kim Kardashian, who wrote on her Instagram Story: “As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard.”
In its latest apology, the company added that it “could have done things differently” and pledged to do so going forward amid ongoing investigations.
“We are closely revising our organisation and collective ways of working,” Balenciaga said.
“We are reinforcing the structures around our creative processes and validation steps.
“We want to ensure that new controls mark a pivot and will prevent this from happening again.”
The company even claimed to be working with “organisations who specialise in child protection and aims at ending child abuse and exploitation”.
“We want to learn from our mistakes and identify ways we can contribute,” the brand said.
“Balenciaga reiterates its sincere apologies for the offence we have caused and extends its apologies to talents and partners.”
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
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