Fashion label pulls ads featuring children with ‘bondage’ teddies

THE fashion house Balenciaga has become embroiled in a row with a photographer after it threatened to sue him for shooting a campaign featuring children holding X-rated teddy bears.

The toys in the Christmas promotion are clad in bondage gear, prompting calls on social media for a boycott of the brand. The “plush bear” handbags feature in the company’s Paris Fashion Week spring-summer 2023 collection.

Balenciaga issued a full apology, saying it “strongly” condemned child abuse in all its forms and was suing those behind the set of images, which it said included “unapproved” items.

Shot by Gabriele Galimberti, the “Gift Shop” campaign was intended to be a statement on the giving and receiving of presents, and was inspired by the photographer’s own Toy Stories series.

In response to the threat of legal action, he said: “I am not in a position to comment [on] Balenciaga’s choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither choose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same.”

In the photographs, the bears wear items such as fishnet stockings and leather harnesses. In one, a child stands on a pink bed holding a teddy that is wearing a fishnet top, a collar with a padlock, and ankle and wrist restraints.

The campaign prompted social media calls to #cancelbalenciaga. On Tiktok alone, the hashtag received over 105,000 views. “We sincerely apologise for any offence our holiday campaign may have caused,” said the fashion house, which was founded in Spain in 1919 and moved to Paris in 1937.

“Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”