Fashion house Balenciaga has been heavily criticised over a photoshoot showing child models posing with fetish-themed teddy bears.
It faced a huge backlash to the images, released as part of a campaign to promote its Objects range.
This led to pressure on Kim Kardashian – an ambassador for the brand – who put out a statement in response.
Balenciaga’s removed the images and says it is taking action over one photoshoot.
The pictures
Balenciaga is regarded as one of the “world’s hottest brands” by some and its luxury goods are a favourite of A-listers and influencers.
But photos from two of its latest campaigns caused people to get angry.
The first was a series of images showing child models posing with the company’s plush bear bags.
These teddy bear-inspired accessories look like soft toys – but appear to be wearing leather harnesses and other items associated with bondage fetishes.
Two of the pictures showed young children hugging the backpacks.
Critics then locked on to a second image from an earlier, separate, campaign promoting the brand’s collaboration with Adidas.
One of the pictures showed a handbag sitting on top of some documents.
When people zoomed in on the text it revealed the papers were from a US Supreme Court ruling related to indecent images of children.
The apologies
Balenciaga posted an apology to its 14 million Instagram followers and said its plush bear bags “should not have been featured with children”.
It said it had removed the items from sale and deleted the images from all web platforms.
Photographer Gabriele Galimberti – who shot the Objects campaign featuring the plush bear bags – also released a statement.
The photos were supposed to mimic his Toy Stories series – photos of children around the world posing with their favourite things.
He told followers he had no control over the models or products used in the Balenciaga photos, and pointed out that they were not explicit.
Balenciaga also apologised for displaying “unsettling documents” in the Adidas collaboration campaign.
It said it was taking legal action against the people it hired to produce the images for including “unapproved items”.
Gabriele Galimberti also pointed out that he was not connected to the Adidas photoshoot.
