Balenciaga Attacking Marketing Agency To Deflect Mistakes, Sources Claim

November 30, 2022 by Monique Nicole in Latest News with 0 Comments

Balenciaga Attacking Marketing Agency To Deflect Mistakes, Sources Claim

It appears Balenciaga is looking for someone to blame amid the backlash against its child BDSM-themed campaign, so much so that the brand is suing a marketing agency for $25 million.

Insiders connected to the controversial photoshoot are claiming that the agency, North Six, has worked with Balenciaga in the past, but held no creative power on this particular photoshoot. Instead, sources say its employees only dealt with the logistics such as crew, equipment, and locations.

In addition, sources claim North Six had nothing to do with the set design for the shoot – which featured child models holding BDSM teddy bears in a cluttered space with a desk that appeared to have legal docs regarding a Supreme Court case dealing with child pornography. As you may already know, the luxury fashion house is in the hot seat for running the now-pulled ad campaign.

Sources also say the North Six staffers were not present at the time of final staging, however, the agency did hire a 3rd party set designer, Nicholas Des Jardins–who is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit. However, it’s unclear if Balenciaga is directly blaming him for placing the child porn document on the desk in the ad.

Another source claims Balenciaga is slamming North Six and other outside parties as a way to deflect from their mistakes and the negative attention they are receiving. As previously reported, Kim Kardashian – who’s had a long-running relationship with the brand – recently condemned the design house after fans urged her to speak about the recent photoshoot controversy.

Kim Kardashian broke her silence in an IG Story post and wrote:

“I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened.”

Showing her concern, Kim Kardashian continued:

“As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period.”

The Skims founder added:

“I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology. In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again.”

In a follow-up post, the 42-year-old shared that she’s reevaluating working with the luxury fashion house. She wrote,

“As for my future with Balenciaga, I am currently reevaluating my relationship with the brand, basing it off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with – and the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children.”

Balenciaga has since apologized for their actions. In a statement released Monday (Nov. 28), Balenciaga claimed that graphics posted under its name were not authorized by the corporation. According to reports, the fashion label has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the production company reportedly behind the concerning images.

Balenciaga said,

“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign. We take this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved items for our Spring 23 campaign photoshoot.”

Addressing the advertisement, Balenciaga noted that:

“The first campaign, the gift collection campaign, featured children with plush bear bags dressed in what some have labelled BDSM-inspired outfits. Our plush bear bags and the gift collection should not have been featured with children. This was a wrong choice by Balenciaga, combined with our failure in assessing and validating images. The responsibility for this lies with Balenciaga alone.”

It added,

“The second, separate campaign for spring 2023, which was meant to replicate a business office environment, included a photo with 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. 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. The inclusion of these unapproved documents was the result of reckless negligence for which Balenciaga has filed a complaint. We take full accountability for our lack of oversight and control of the documents in the background and we could have done things differently.”