Images from Balenciaga's latest holiday campaign have been described as "disturbing" and "child exploiting".
The set of photos, used in advertisements for the Spanish fashion label's Spring/Summer 2023 collection, triggered a flood of outrage when they were posted on Instagram to the brand's 14 million followers.
Here's why.
WARNING: This story contains details that may distress some readers.
What was in the campaign?
There's a few layers to this. Let's start with the most obvious one.
The high-fashion brand staged a photo shoot which featured two young girls holding teddy bears that were wearing what some have described as "bondage gear".
This includes studded leather straps, chains and fishnet shirts.
A dog bowl with spikes around it and a collar were also seen in the photos.
Following swift backlash (we'll get into that below), Balenciaga removed the photos from all platforms.
But not before the world screen-shotted and re-uploaded them to Twitter and Instagram.
Supreme Court child abuse imagery case documents
This led to the discovery in an earlier campaign of a photo depicting a black handbag on top of a pile of strewn papers — all of them are blank, except one.
Twitter users have pointed out the one document appears to be an excerpt from a Supreme Court case, US v. Williams, in which the court upheld a federal statute that the prohibition of "pandering", or promotion, of images of child sexual abuse did not violate the First Amendment.
The visible portion of the document also has a reference to another Supreme Court case, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.
The 2002 case concluded that the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 (CPPA) violated free speech.
A book which features paintings of naked children
In the same campaign another photo features a model sitting in an office chair inside a high-rise building.
Behind the model, Twitter users pointed out a copy of a book called Fire from the Sun by an artist named Michael Borremans.
A quick Google of the book will reveal Borremans' paintings of children running around naked, looking at and holding severed body parts covered in blood.
Contemporary art gallery David Zwirner, which featured an exhibition of Borremans' paintings in Hong Kong in 2018, describes the artwork as featuring:
"Toddlers engaged in playful but mysterious acts with sinister overtones and insinuations of violence".
What are people saying about it?
Within moments of Balenciaga's summer campaign being released online, the hashtags #BoycottBalenciaga and #CancelBalenciaga started trending.
Users across Twitter and Instagram slammed the brand for promoting paedophilia and child abuse imagery.
One Twitter user said whoever had the idea for the campaign should "be in jail".
Some said the materials and props used in the photos represented bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism (BDSM) fetishes.
Among the anger-fuelled responses online, one user said "most people won't even remember" what happened with the brand.
How did Balenciaga respond?
The company pulled the campaign and released an apology on Instagram for what many perceived as the sexualisation of children.
"Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign," Balenciaga wrote in a post on their Instagram story.
The brand also stated it will take legal action "against the parties responsible" for the creating the campaign and "including unapproved items" in the photo shoot.
"We strongly condemn abuse of children in any form," Balenciaga wrote.
Who else has responded?
Brand ambassador Kim Kardashian broke her silence on the issue earlier on Monday when she posted a statement to her Instagram and Twitter.
The mother of four said she was "shaken by the disturbing images".
She also said she is "currently re-evaluating" her relationship with Balenciaga, "basing it off their willingness to accept accountability".
Alongside Kim Kardashian, the photographer for the controversial campaign has also spoken up.
Objects displayed 'are not in the hands of the photographer'
Gabriele Galimberti, who is known for his portraits of children surrounded by their possessions, posted an Instagram statement following "hundreds of hate mails and messages" received.
"The direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects displayed are not in the hands of the photographer," he wrote.
Galimberti said he had "no connection with the photo where a Supreme Court document appears".
"That one was taken in another set by other people and and was falsely associated with my photos."
