Balenciaga Gate: Fashion's Latest Controversy
High fashion is supposed to elicit emotions. The industry is becoming progressively more about creating a performance. Clothes still play the leading role, but it stopped being the only role in the script. Campaigns are shows meant to entice customers and give them more than just a visual - they communicate emotions and connect the brand with a certain image in the customer’s eye. Naturally then, they are representative of the company’s values.
The company’s appearance is not meant to be bland or boring, but intriguing instead. And brands apply themselves to that rule.
With the blooming variety of potential choices for the customer, and a very competitive market, the challenge to stand out in the crowd is becoming increasingly difficult. Amidst recent controversy, one brand does not need to worry about succeeding - Balenciaga took their uniqueness to the next level.
Long story short, the brand is under fire for two controversial ad campaigns. The first one included photographs of children posing with teddy bears in harnesses and bondage gear. Just hours after apologising for this indelicate marketing scheme, another scandal erupted. This time, the advert pictures depicted a Balenciaga bag on some scattered office documents, one of them being a printout of the 2008 Supreme Court decision to make the law prohibiting the pandering of child pornography constitutional.
The news spread fast. Currently shamed for lack of sensitivity and general taste, Balenciaga is planning to take legal action against their set designer (Nicholas Des Jardins) and the production company (North Six). This is probably just another excuse, as in the case of the first controversy, when the brand was rumoured to sue their photographer, Gabriele Galimberti. “As usual for a commercial shooting, the direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects displayed are not in the hands of the photographer”, he stated.
AS USUAL FOR A COMMERCIAL SHOOTING, THE DIRECTION OF THE CAMPAIGN AND THE CHOICE OF THE OBJECTS DISPLAYED ARE NOT IN THE HANDS OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Although apologies for the alleged mistakes were issued, the public outrage is still very much present. Several photographers, such as Misan Harriman, have also spoken up about the issue, supporting the view that the production crew has little to say in the decision-making process, and that every single detail needs to be approved by the fashion house they are working for. Balenciaga may face long-term consequences not just because of the reaction of the public and their general distaste. Kim Kardashian, most recent muse to Demna Gvasalia, is currently reconsidering her relationship with the brand and demanding a change in their approach to children. Losing Kim would be a powerful blow for Balenciaga, but we have seen fashion houses survive scandals like this (see Dolce & Gabbana’s 2019 racist campaigns).
In light of an issue like this, several questions come to mind.Why does a multi-billion dollar company go to such lengths to be recognisable? Did they really cross the line between provoking and abominable? What was the aim of the campaign?
Balenciaga is particularly known for their ““edgy”” approach, so such advertising decisions might be simply a tool to preserve the brand’s present image. It differs very much from what it once was.
When Cristóbal Balenciaga started his own fashion house, he introduced a lot to the industry.
Known as a self-taught perfectionist who never in his life sketched a garment, named the only couturier by Coco Chanel, he completely reconstructed the female silhouette with his innovative approach. His designs were bold and distinct, they embodied elegance for its sole purpose. The boldness and innovation inarguably remained within the fashion house, but do they serve the same purpose? According to Cristóbal, “A fashion designer must be an architect of form, a painter for color, a musician for harmony and a philosopher for the medium”.
Is Demna painting for color or rather destroying the last bits of harmony once so well-preserved in Balenciaga?
When a company with a truly innovative creative team and an abundance of financial resources chooses to include materials that create this much backlash, an alarm should go off. In the era of cancel culture, the bar for celebrities’ reaction could be undoubtedly higher. If public figures with multi-million audiences condone exploitation of children for the sake of a campaign, then the future of creative industries looks saddening.
It would be awfully depressing to think that controversy has become the new bar for creative industries. Have we exhausted all the other areas of competition?
The campaign gave Balenciaga a lot of attention and coverage. Even though the pictures were taken down from the official website, they circled the internet at record speed and reached a much bigger audience than they usually would. The world is still talking about Balenciaga and their new collection (although not many are focused on the apparel itself). Irregardless of whether the company gets cancelled, the campaign will be remembered.
