Balenciaga apologized Tuesday for an ad campaign that showed young children posing with teddy bears that appeared to be dressed in bdsm outfits.
The famous label suggested that the images displayed on its behalf did not have the company’s approval and threatened legal action against the content creators behind the ad campaign.
Other image in the same campaign appeared to display an excerpt from a 2008 US Supreme Court case which upheld federal statutes on child pornography.
“We apologize for displaying disturbing 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 photo shoot,” the tweet wrote. company in a statement published on its instagram story.
“We strongly condemn child abuse in any form. We stand up for the safety and well-being of children.”
The company said it took immediate action as soon as the images were flagged.
“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign has caused,” the company statement said. “Our teddy bear bags should not have been shown with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”
representatives for Keringthe French luxury goods corporation that owns Balenciaga, and the Spanish fashion house itself could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Balenciaga was one of the high-profile clothing companies that cut ties last month with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, for his anti-Semitic comments.