A Balenciaga designer recently addressed the fashion brand’s controversial ad campaign by sharing a formal apology for his involvement in the drama.
Demna Gvasalia, known just by his first name, is a Georgian fashion designer currently serving as creative director for Balenciaga. He’s also friends with Kim Kardashian and has collaborated with Kanye West.
More than a week after the ad campaign — which featured children posing with teddy bears that were dressed in bondage-themed gear — went viral, Demna weighed in on the situation with a statement on Instagram.
“I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids and I take my responsibility. It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them,” the 41-year-old designer posted.
“As much as I would sometimes like to provoke a thought through my work, I would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period. I need to learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organizations to know how I can contribute and help on this terrible subject.”
In conclusion, the designer wrote, “I apologize to anyone offended by the visuals and Balenciaga has guaranteed that adequate measures will be taken not only to avoid similar mistakes in the future but also to take accountability in protecting child welfare in every way we can.”
His statement comes just as Balenciaga has announced its intention to drop the $25 million lawsuit against marketing agency North Six. Instead, Balenciaga is choosing to donate to organizations focused on protecting children.
The brand’s president and CEO Cedric Charbit said Balenciaga has put aside a “significant fund” for grants and has added new control measures to ensure a situation like that never happens again. He also claimed to have “reorganized” the entire image department in the wake of the scandal.
“I want to personally reiterate my sincere apologies for the offense caused and take my responsibility,” Charbit wrote. He ended with the message, “At Balenciaga, we stand together for children safety and do not tolerate any kind of violence and hatred message [sic].”