Balenciaga pulls controversial bear advert featuring children

Balenciaga has pulled a controversial advert and apologised to people, after it faced a huge backlash.

The ads supported Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which debuted this Autumn at Paris Fashion Week, but people didn't like them because they showed a small child in a mesh vest and a padlock necklace holding a bear which a Mumsnet user described as "dressed in bondage and fetish gear", which was "wildly inappropriate"

With all this in mind, and other online backlash, the brand took action.

“We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused. Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms,” the company wrote in a statement posted to its Instagram Story.

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“We apologize for displaying unsettling documents in our campaign,” the company continued in its statement. “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. We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form. We stand for children’s safety and well-being.”

All's well that ends well.

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