Kim Kardashian ‘reevaluating’ Balenciaga relationship after recent ad campaign (Doug Peters/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Balenciaga muse Kim Kardashian has finally spoken out about the Spanish brand’s problematic campaigns after days of fans criticising her silence.
“I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened,” she tweeted last night about its 2022 holiday gifting campaign, which featured toddlers holding teddy bears wearing bondage gear, and its Adidas collaboration campaign, which featured documents relating to Supreme Court cases about child pornography.
The mother of four added that she had been “shaken by the disturbing images” that went viral last week, and that “any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society - period.”
However, she also said she appreciated that Balenciaga removed the campaign and apologised. “In speaking with them, I believe they understand the seriousness of the issue and will take the necessary measures for this to never happen again,” she added.
Controversially, she said that she was “re-evaluating” her relationship with the brand based “off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with — & the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children.” Rather than explicitly stating she would cut ties, which left fans outraged.
Over the last two years, the reality TV star has become the defacto face of Balenciaga. On the finale of The Kardashians season 2, which aired last week, explained how her relationship came about. “I think the partnership with Balenciaga obviously came from Kanye but I was just genuinely loving their clothes and wearing them all the time. It was a really organic relationship that happened and those are the best ones,” she said as she took viewers behind the scenes of the Balenciaga couture show. "Every day was a campaign anyway — just because that is genuinely what I love. So, the fact that it turned into a real one and I am now walking in the show just means so much."
As well as walking the Paris Fashion week couture show in July alongside Nicole Kidman and Dua Lipa, the Skims founder has almost exclusively worn the brand recently. So much so that Vogue declared Kim Kardashian was officially in her “Balenciaga era” last year after accepting the 2021 Fashion Award at the People’ Choice Awards wearing Balenciaga, and attending the Met Gala arm in arm with Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna.
Time will tell if the end of an era will soon be upon us. Although Balenciaga has filed a $25m lawsuit against set designer Nicholas Des Jardins and production company North Six, Inc, citing they had no “knowledge or authorization” about the aggrieved items in the shoot, the public jury is very much out for the brand.
