To ask your thoughts on the Balenciaga controversy?

[outpatient]

There quite possibly could be a thread about this already apologies if so I haven't checked but wandering your opinions on this.

Do you buy/wear Balenciaga and if so will you stop in light of this this?

For those who may be unaware they had two recent ad campaigns, quoted from the newspaper;

Onee of the ads, the designer’s gift collection campaign, featured children posing with the brand’s teddy bear purses, which critics pointed out appear to be wearing BDSM and bondage-inspired accessories.

The second ad under scrutiny is Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 campaign, for its use of a printout of a Supreme Court decision on child pornography.

It is beyond comprehension to me why they thought this campaign was appropriate. Very very creepy. How many adults would have had to be involved in the process of designing, organising, shooting, and signing off this campaign for a brand of that size? Yet it still got released.

I think it really shows who controls who. If an individual celebrity had done something like this - brands and sponsors would be moving to end deals and distance themselves almost immediately.

Yet celebrities have been largely silent on this. Money and power really doesn't control the world.

I don’t have anything from them but would definitely boycott over this

Coach on the other hand have lost the purchase of a couple of bags a year due to their recent refusal to condemn their brand ambassador who spat at women and threatened to beat them and then screamed a homophobic slur in the face of a gay 80 year old man.

I have been stuck in bed ill for three days so have been watching tik tok people are cutting up and destroying their goods. As much as social media can be utter shite and has probably overall done more harm than good I saw this as positive, one woman cut up her 1500 dollar bag.

hermioneweasley who is Coach’s brand ambassador? I was going to treat myself to another Coach bag but probably won’t now.

I actually have a fake Balenciaga purse. I am thinking I should probably keep this as a sort of stealth protest piece.

Their stuff is awful, who wants to walk about in those ridiculous diving boots, it really is the Emperor's new clothes situation and whoever thought up this advertising campaign is sick.
I hope there are enough people who boycott them and they go under.

The campaigns are awful and I don't know who signed them off. That said, the Daily Mail has printed the offending photos, including some really distasteful ones many times whilst covering this story, making sure those images are far more widely spread than they would have been had they only been in Vogue. There is some horrible voyeurism over the images which I find more disturbing than their original creation somehow. Now it is decided those images (campaign, art ones) are offensive, stop printing them! It's offensive to the children in them to keep reproducing them to illustrate how offensive they are (and suggests that those who are concerned, are not motivated by protecting the children at all).

No. I do not support the normalisation in society of paedos.

I had never heard of the brand until it was referred to on here. So being cynical, if they were looking to extend their brand awareness the campaign worked.

But I suspect I would never have bought anything from them anyway.

But if you boycott Balenciaga, you won't be able to wear these anymore.

Really? You would never put principles above the transitory pleasure of buying something that isn't unique and that you don't need?

I posted on a different thread about this, and feel very strongly that the rise in queer theory, identity politics and gender ideology has set a clear precedence for this, only Balenciaga have done this far more openly.

This isn’t out of the blue. It’s shocking, yes, but not a surprise. We’ve been fighting a losing battle against the dismantling of safeguards around our children, and so many are fooled by “progression”.

Some examples - Pride - pushed as a family friendly event, embraces kink, paedophilia (under the guise of MAPs). High street brands, NHS, schools, universities, police etc cannot do enough to get behind pride despite its obvious adult themes.

Drag Queen story time - why is it necessary for children to be read to by adult entertainers? In USA where this started it was found that certain drag queens had previous convictions for paedophilia, yet parents were allowed their toddlers to roll around on the floor with them. In this country searches for DQST shows up public photos that small children should not be seeing.

Gender shit in schools is the ultimate in stripping down safeguarding - tell children they can’t tell whether someone’s a man or a woman? Tell them they can change their sex? Stick to rigid gender stereotypes that leads non conforming and gay kids to believe they are in the wrong body? Threaten anyone who questions this insanity? The whole movement prioritises men at the expense of women and children.
Paid TRA advisers with police, NHS, education (schools and unis) are regularly found to have past links to VAWG and paedophilia, but we’re not allowed to be open about how very predictable and dangerous this is. We’re shouted down because this never happens, and not just shouted down by TRAs themselves, but by the likes of Nicola Sturgeon, prominent political commentators, we’re gaslighted into believing this is a kind and progressive movement.

Then along come Balenciaga with their sick ad campaign, and all of a sudden this is too much for people, even though this has been happening more and more openly for years!

Balenciaga deserve to rot over this, but let’s not forget that many organisations and parents have paved the way for this. Let’s not pretend that anyone embracing queer theory and its inherent issues have been anything other than welcoming to an ideology that is openly dangerous for children.

Perhaps now is the time to reinstate safeguards for our children.

Yes, I also sadly think this is true, well I guess with some of them we know it's true.

Agree with the above. I'm concerned they are tyring to get the 'P' into LGBTIQ.

It's a disgusting campaign and everyone who created it, worked on it and signed it off need sacking.

Sadly money will come before principles and they they will bounce back.

Kim Kardashian hasn't so far cut ties with them, she is 'reevaluating her future' which is code for she doesn't want to lose money. She's got more than enough money but still won't set an example for her kids and everyone who looks up to her that this is wrong.

Hear Hear. They are lower than low and I hope that the lawsuit against the company who made the ad is widely reported on so the person responsible is exposed for the sick pervert they are.

I'm not going to pay it much mind. Just add it to the list of indications that many have lost their moral compass somewhere over the years to the point of promoting sex and sexual degeneracy at every turn.

The thought of that is absolutely terrifying.

@AllOfThemWitches and what a tragic loss that would be for humankind 😂😂
WTAF?!

I don't buy balenciaga these days but I do have a couple of their bags from years ago I won't be getting rid of or stop using over it. I don't plan to buy anything more from them more so because I don't like their newer styles compared to years ago. Not sure if this would stop me buying or not if there was...

The face of paedophilia isn’t rappers or drug dealers?

Most of the people wearing and modelling this brand aren’t rappers or drug dealers.

Most paedophiles wear suits with ties. Should this clothing be boycotted for fear of looking like one?

Judging people by their appearance is a dangerous thing. It’s often why people fall victim to real dangerous criminals, who look so nice and decent.

I think it's deliberate, money can't buy the coverage they have had over this. I Dont believe for a second that their blame of the photographer is true, imagine a brand that big not being in control of every aspect of their own campaign!

I think they know their market, and that it won't be boycotted by the people who matter to them.

I occasionally buy designer, but it's not a brand I would ever consider. KK has spoken about her disapproval, but hasn't cut ties, their target audience mostly won't.

I couldn't find anything on Snopes about this latest issue with Balenciaga.

You dont need snopes or tiktok to look at the original adverts and be disgusted

There's no such thing as child pornography.

It's Child Sexual ABUSE

ABUSE