Balenciaga scandal: Epic fail and social media madness

Balenciaga faced a media storm in November 2022 over multiple controversial ad campaigns. The first, for the holiday collection, featured children holding teddy bears in BDSM-style accessories, shot by photographer Gabriele Galimberti. The campaign was pulled after backlash. A second campaign, a collaboration with Adidas, included a document from a US Supreme Court case on child pornography (US vs Williams, 2008) in the background. Balenciaga sued production company North Six and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins for $25 million. A third campaign, for the Garde-Robe line, featured books by artists Michaël Borremans and Matthew Barney, which conspiracy theorists linked to occult messages. Kim Kardashian, a brand ambassador, publicly criticized the campaigns. The scandals led to widespread outrage and calls for boycotts. The article critiques the lack of artistic depth in the commercial appropriation of Galimberti's reportage work 'Toys Stories', contrasting it with his acclaimed series 'The Ameriguns' (World Press Photo 2021).