(Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of photographs of children that have sexual connotations. Parental guidance is advised.)

BALENCIAGA, the luxury fashion house that dresses some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, is having a not so merry season after launching its holiday campaign featuring its gift items, which led to accusations that it was sexualizing children.

November 16

Balenciaga introduced its items in advertisements featuring children wearing its kids’ clothing line and surrounded by dozens of Balenciaga products. 

The children were carrying Balenciaga’s bags shaped as teddy bears. 

The ads soon drew fire after netizens saw that the bears were wearing harnesses, which they said resembled bondage gear. 

They said the imagery linked children to BDSM, or sexual behavior involving dominance, submission, and control. They said the inclusion of images could only have been deliberate.

The scrutiny was not limited to the campaign involving kids.

Netizens also questioned a photo for Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 ad campaign that showed a shot of a handbag with the printout of a 2008 Supreme Court decision on the US’ pornography laws in the background.

The United States v. Williams decision upheld the constitutionality of a law that said the promotion of child pornography is not protected by free speech.

Twitter users also criticized another photo that included a book on Belgian artist Michael Borremans, who had produced works depicting toddlers covered in blood playing in fire. 

Some Twitter users likewise questioned the inclusion in a photo of a certificate bearing the name “John Philip Fisher,” as they noted that a man of the same name was convicted of molesting his own granddaughter.

November 22

The online backlash grew into a frenzy and prompted the first apology from Balenciaga.

It said it was sorry “for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused” and for “displaying unsettling documents” in our campaign. 

“Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign,” it said. 

It said it had removed the campaign from all its platforms and was taking “legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and including unapproved” items for the Spring 2023 photoshoot. 

“We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children safety and well-being,” it said.

Photographer Gabriele Galimberti also spoke out to defend himself after receiving “hundreds of hate mails and messages” because of the photos he took for the holiday campaign, and said he did not have control over the content.

“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 chose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same,” Galimberti said on Instagram.

He said he was just asked “to lit the given scene” and take photos using his signature style. 

The campaign’s direction and choice of objects was not up to him, he stressed.

He also said he was not involved in the shoot that featured the US Supreme Court ruling on child pornography. 

November 25

Balenciaga filed a $25 million suit against production company North Six, Inc. and set designer Nicholas Des Jardins and his company for the ad campaign that featured the Supreme Court decision.

Balenciaga said the use of court documents without its knowledge caused harm to its image.  

“As a result of Defendants’ misconduct, members of the public, including the news media, have falsely and horrifically associated Balenciaga with the repulsive and deeply disturbing subject of the court decision,” it said in the suit.

This, however, failed dampen criticism of Balenciaga.

November 28

The luxury brand issued a second apology on November 28 reiterating its condemnation of child abuse. 

Calls from netizens also escalated asking celebrities to speak up about the brand’s action.

Among those pressured to speak up was reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who had been working with Balenciaga for years.

Kardashian broke her silence also on November 28, and explained that she had been quiet at not because she wasn’t “disgusted and outraged” over the ad campaigns, but because wanted to speak to Balenciaga first and understand what had happened. 

She said she appreciates its decision to take down the ad campaign and apologize, but also said she was “re-evaluating” her relationship with the brand.

It remains to be seen whether the public, or Balenciaga’s posh clientele, will stick by the luxury brand amid this latest controversy.