What did creative director Demna Gvasalia say about the child ad photo? Balenciaga partners with children's non-profit

After Balenciaga was in deep waters due to the controversial photoshoot of children holding teddy bears in bondange, the creative director has addressed the ad campaign that brought in global criticism. Speaking about how the documents ended up on the photo shoot, in an interview with Vogue, Demna claimed:

“I was shocked when I heard about their presence... it was a set of negligent and unfortunate but not intentional coincidences."

The creative director added that they were initially told that the documents were confirmed to be fake. He added that they were all shocked when the "scandal was sparked" due to the documents and the props. He noted that he didn't know how they ended there as they weren't supposed to be there, and claimed that he was "completely stunned" by it.

Demna, the shoot's creative director, also spoke about the BDSM bear and claimed that it was all his fault. However, apart from owning up, he clarified that the animals were only to portray “punk,” and did not mean anything obscene.

He said:

“I didn’t realize how inappropriate it would be to put these objects in the image and still have the kid in the middle. It unfortunately was the wrong idea and a bad decision from me.”

It all becomes even more crucial as Balenciaga and the Kering Foundation recently announced that they will be partnering with the National Children’s Alliance (NCA). The two will be partnering on the latter's on its recently launched Mental Health Institute for the next three years.

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Balenciaga's creative director Demna talks about the controversial child photoshoot

Almost two months after the pictures were released, Demna opened up and talked in length about the photo shoot. He also spoke about how he “didn’t see a problem” with the bears in the photo shoot and noted:

“I realized that I really have to look at everything from a very objective point of view and imagine how it can speak to a different audience and be responsible for that. It was a reaction I would never, ever want to cause.”

Claiming that he knew and realized that his work was seen as “provocative,” he also stated that it was the most difficult thing for him. Balenciaga’s creative director owned up and said:

“We should not have featured kids in images that included objects that were not related and inappropriate to them. No one, myself included, raised a question of it being inappropriate.”

At around the end of November 2022, Balenciaga, also posted on social media, and “apologized” for the brand’s holiday campaign.

After receiving massive criticism from social media users and tons of celebrities, the brand, Balenciaga, has now partnered with NCA.

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Balenciaga’s collaboration with NCA came after the brand was criticized for its ad campaign

With many social media users criticizing the holiday campaign, the brand value of Balenciaga suffered a lot. However, after issuing several apologies, the brand has now partnered with the National Children’s Alliance.

In a statement, it was made clear that support from the brand will enable NCA to train 2,000 professionals. The statement read:

“Support from Balenciaga will enable NCA to train nearly 2,000 professionals specialised in child abuse and up to an estimated 55,000 children will benefit by receiving evidence-based mental healthcare over the three-year program.”

The collaboration will focus on areas of safety and well-being of the kids. It will also help the staff educate themselves about “how to best safeguard children." Speaking about the same, the NCA Chief Executive Officer, Teresa Huizar, said:

“It can mean the difference between life and death, which is why Balenciaga’s and the Kering Foundation’s support for this program is so urgently needed.”

To this, the brand's CEO Cédric Charbit added:

“We have listened and learned a lot through this experience, and we wanted to help have a positive and lasting impact on children and their future who needed support but lacked access.”

The same was announced on the brand's social media handles on February 8, 2023.

The coalition is receiving multiple mixed responses from netizens. Many believe that this is a “damage control scheme” by the brand. Meanwhile, others are of the opinion that the luxury label is genuinely apologetic about their mistake with the kids’ photoshoot in November 2022.