I'm going to say what I say, this will be my only comment here and I'm out.
I'm really tired of these misinformed narratives and the extremely egregious amounts of misinformation/disinformation repeated not only on social media, but here as well. People have been saying that the children were restrained or wearing locks, implying that the children were nude, conflating two separate ad campaigns, etc etc. Not to mention the slew of right-wing/misinformation/qanon websites shared here too. And it's not surprising these comments have been coming majorly from right-wing/misinformation/qanon mouthpieces/influencers who have tried to draw a connection with Balenciaga's campaign with their conspiracies.
Someone went as far as saying the brand is Satanic because the yellow caution tape is cut and shows the text 'BAAL' therefore alluding to demons in a Christian context.
I have acquaintances and friends that work in higher positions with the house; I've spoken with them to get clarification on this situation. The attempt to generate controversy is NOT true. This was a holiday/gifts campaign, which was to appeal to a very broad audience, so there was no attempt to generate (this type) controversy which would likely alienate people.
To reiterate, none of this was deliberate in generating controversy. The attempts Balenciaga makes to generate controversy are usually done with frivolity like the trash bags. That's the type of controversy Balenciaga likes to garner, to agitate and subvert the average person's sense of good taste regarding design and fashion. Not speak to abuse, p*rn, racism, or to offend any marginalized group.
Regarding the holiday campaign, the bears are 'mascota' bags that were adorned with punk, goth, or emo style clothing and accessories which is a sub-culture and aesthetic Demna has explored constantly throughout his collections. In fact, the photographer said Balenciaga told him the theme was "punk". The intent was Gabriele's style of photography art, combined a punk sensibility, to advertise the series of Balenciaga products that would be good gifts: candle holders, ornaments, apparel/shoes.
Yes, the idea was misguided and reads offensive when you consider what people outside your circle will think. However, the series of people who approved this have the same groupthink. They all are familiar with Demna's ideas (which is punk) so they would approve this. When you are only thinking of punk, Demna's style, and that's all you think of after working with him for half a decade, for some, you might not think of anything else. They did not consider external associations or undertones like BDSM, bondage, or abuse with the bear bags. And Balenciaga has taken accountability for that per their statement.
Regarding the Spring 23 campaign featuring props of court documents relating to child p*rn. Barely anyone is looking this deep into the props when attention is to the models and the clothing. People who are retouching these photos are more focused on the models and overarching factors like lighting. Not zooming into documents. Not paying attention to the coffee table books/ certificates in the background. A person is paid to retouch, not do deep diving into the names to see who have been implicated in what and any associations. Neither would anyone else. More importantly, the documents came from “numerous boxes” rented from a prop house which were all supposed to be “fake office documents.” To include these elements are "the result of reckless negligence" per Balenciaga and they are pursuing legal action against the external parties.
Yes I understand how damning it is when you combine the two campaigns but please note that each campaign had a number of different people working on it. I understand it was approved by multiple people. However, in my experience, when a company gets too comfortable with their position, they tend to be more reckless and sloppy with their 'approval' process and not think of other contexts. Balenciaga has taken accountability for their recklessness and are now taking steps to fix this behavior per their statement.
I am not making excuses for Balenciaga, but to offer a counterpoint to the pervasive idea that Balencaiga were all in this together and because this was approved by multiple people, it was intentional and to cause controversy. I agree with Balenciaga taking accountability for their (lack of) actions.
To the people who are going as far as calling this abuse and p*rn. There is a reason why the FBI isn't involved. The DST, French police, Interpol aren't either. Literally no government agency is coming out to hold Balenciaga criminally accountable. And the reason is so simple and straightforward. Because there wasn't any. To categorize what Balenciaga has done as any of these things is extremely dangerous and undermines actual instances of abuse and p*rn.
People who aren't even involved in the shoot are being harassed and accosted. Friends of demna, those who aren't even associated with Balenciaga anymore, celebrities who were there pose and look good, etc. There have been cases with the stores and client services too. A friend notified me of heightened security at some locations because of this. It's going too far. Retail employees, who literally just sell the merchandise (and not paid the best imo), are being harassed. They already have to deal with exacting clients and unrealistic sales goals. Why are people doing this?
I'm NOT going to judge anyone wearing Balenciaga. Have the members here who proudly declared they will judge others considered other factors of why else a person would wear Balenciaga past this controversy? What if that person isn't online/on social media, doesn't pay attention to fashion, and/or unaware of the news? Please extend the empathy you have to others as well.