Kim Kardashian has risked backlash again by appearing in a Balenciaga campaign for the first time after refusing to cut ties with the brand following last year’s pedophilia scandal that rocked the fashion world.
The 42-year-old SKIMS mogul was one of the models who presented the Summer 2024 collection for the Paris-based fashion brand, flaunting her signature curves in a black latex dress.
However, it is interesting to note that Kim did not rock the runway or sit in the front row at Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week show, which was attended by her mother Kris Jenner and longtime friend Paris Hilton.
Nylon France editor Louis Pisano explained the reality star’s absence when he wrote in X (formerly Twitter): “Re. Kim Kardashian at Balenciaga: Demnagram just told me at the afterparty that Kim is actually not in Paris anymore, she left after the VB show & party and she was just shot for the lookbook since she wasn’t here.
Kim attended her friend Victoria Beckham’s Paris Fashion Week show on Friday, where she was accused of “snubbing” Vogue editor Anna Wintour despite years of friendship.
Interesting: Kim Kardashian appeared in a Balenciaga campaign for the first time after refusing to cut ties with the brand following last year’s pedophilia scandal that rocked the fashion world
As for the mother of four’s latest campaign with Balenciaga, she was seen in a relatively edgy ensemble in the lookbook, including a fitted, shiny black midi dress with an asymmetric hem.
She paired the sleeveless dress with a pair of black, fitted, thigh-high boots and, strangely, sported a shimmering silver stiletto heel.
Her signature raven locks were wet and torn in the middle part while she wore minimal makeup in nude tones to accentuate her look.
In November 2022, Kim had refused to cut ties with Balenciaga, despite a controversy that linked the company to a shoot in which children were placed next to BDSM-themed items.
Kardashian, who has worked with the company for several years, made the comments a few days after the company apologized for the scandal.
The reality TV star said that while she was “shocked” and “disgusted” when she saw the images in the controversial ad campaign, she wanted to speak to the designer’s executives to understand how it came about.
Visibly embarrassed by their ill-advised campaign, Balenciaga took the drastic step of deleting its social media pages.
“I’ve been quiet these past few days, not because I wasn’t shocked and outraged by Balenciaga’s recent campaigns, but because I wanted an opportunity to talk to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened,” he said The Los Angeles-born celebrity said in a statement on her Instagram page at the time.
Hmm: It’s interesting to note, however, that Kim didn’t rock the runway or sit in the front row at Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week show, which was attended by her mother Kris Jenner (left) and her longtime friend Paris Hilton
Unpleasant! Kim attended her friend Victoria Beckham’s Paris Fashion Week show on Friday, where she was accused of “snubbing” Vogue editor Anna Wintour despite years of friendship
Simply stunning: The mother of four’s latest campaign with Balenciaga featured her in a relatively edgy ensemble in the lookbook, including a figure-hugging, shiny black midi dress with an asymmetrical hem
She continued: “As a mother of four children, these disturbing images have shocked me. “Children’s safety must be a top priority and anything that violates this should have no place in our society – period.”
She then reissued the statement, changing some of the wording and using stronger language, adding: “Any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period.”
Overall, however, Kardashian said she was pleased with the company’s response to the scandal.
“I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and his apology. “I believe that through discussions with them they will understand the seriousness of the problem and take the necessary measures to ensure that something like this never happens again.”
In an additional post on Instagram and Twitter, Kardashian said she is reconsidering her relationship with the fashion brand but hasn’t made many firm decisions yet.
“Concerning my future at Balenciaga, I am currently re-evaluating my relationship with the brand based on their willingness to take responsibility for something that should never have happened – and the actions I expect from them.” to protect children.’
Kardashian has often worn Balenciaga at major events and has appeared in several of the brand’s campaigns in the past.
Essentially the company’s fashion face, Balenciaga’s biggest supporter and the brand’s most famous model, Kardashian appears to be walking on water in the fashion house’s Fall 2022 campaign.
Took a Stand: In November 2022, Kim had refused to cut ties with Balenciaga, despite a controversy that linked the company to a shoot in which children were placed next to BDSM-themed items; She will be seen in Paris on Friday
The reality TV star said that while she was “shocked” and “disgusted” when she saw the images in the controversial ad campaign, she wanted to speak to officials at the designer to understand how it came about when she published this statement in November 2022
She then issued a second statement in which she changed some wording and stated that “any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society – period.”
In another post, this time on both Twitter and Instagram, Kardashian said she was reconsidering her relationship with the fashion brand
She was famously introduced to Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia by her ex Kanye West. The couple’s daughters also wear the brand and have recently been spotted with four-figure bags from the brand.
She acknowledged the role her ex-husband played in the relationship while speaking at the People’s Choice Awards in December 2021, where she accepted an award for fashion.
“To Kanye, who really introduced me to the fashion world,” she said. “I fell in love with fashion and I’m inspired by so many people.” But again, it’s like a dream that I wake up, wear these great clothes, try new things and take risks. I’m so humble.’
Around the time of the controversy, Balenciaga had apologized for its photo shoot featuring a child with a teddy bear in a BDSM outfit, which outraged hundreds of people online.
Balenciaga, a world-renowned Spanish fashion house that dresses the likes of Beyoncé and Nicole Kidman as well as Kim, apologized for the set with the stuffed animals.
Perhaps even more bizarre: a Twitter user discovered that one of the photos contained, in a separate shot, an excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling in United States v. Williams, which upheld part of a federal child pornography law, which was confirmed by Twitter’s own fact-checkers.
The ruling held that offering or soliciting the transfer, sale, delivery, or trafficking of child pornography does not violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, even if a person charged under the law did not actually possess child pornography with which she could act. The late Justice Antonin Scalia specifically noted that offers to engage in illegal transactions were categorically excluded from First Amendment protections.
Balenciaga released the statement on November 23, 2022, apologizing for both photo shoots and apparently hinting that they would take legal action against anyone else involved.
The statement said: “We sincerely apologize for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused.” Our plush bear bags should not have been presented to children in this campaign. We immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.
“We apologize for displaying disturbing documents in our campaign.” We are taking this matter very seriously and are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set and using unauthorized items for our Spring ’23 campaign photo shoot . We strongly condemn the abuse of children in any form. “We stand for the safety and well-being of children.”
They later clarified in a statement to that neither Galimberti nor photographer Chris Maggio, who took the photos on behalf of the Supreme Court, would be involved in any legal action. A spokesman said they would sue the creatives hired for the photos of the spring ’23 collection.
Balenciaga told : “Balenciaga is not taking legal action against Gabriele Galimberti, the photographer of the Christmas campaign that features a child carrying a teddy bear bag.”
“Gabriele Galimberti was in no way involved in the Spring 23 campaign, which involved troubling documents in an office.”
The picture shows a young girl holding a teddy bear in bondage clothing. The photo has been removed from the gift shop section of the Balenciaga website
Fashion brand Balenciaga is apologizing for a photo shoot that many believe amounted to child pornography, in which a child held a teddy bear in a BDSM outfit
The teddy bears dressed in shackles are actually handbags that appeared on the runway earlier this year
Gabriele Galimberti, the shoot’s photographer, has denied any connection with the ideas behind the shoot
Perhaps even more bizarre, a Twitter user discovered an Easter egg during the photo shoot. One of the photos included an excerpt from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Williams,” which upheld part of a federal child pornography law that includes Twitter fact-checkers confirmed
Photographer Galimberti promoted the images as part of a series of projects he called “Toy Stories,” in an apparent nod to the Disney/Pixar film series, according to the Daily Dot.
He writes about the project on his website: “Over two years, I visited more than 50 countries, creating colorful images of boys and girls in their homes and neighborhoods with their most prized possessions: their toys.”
“From Texas to India, from Malawi to China, Iceland, Morocco and Fiji, I have recorded the spontaneous and natural joy that unites children despite their different backgrounds.” No matter whether the child owns a veritable fleet of miniature cars or a single stuffed monkey , the pride it feels is moving, funny and thought-provoking.”
According to his website, Galimberti has been featured in National Geographic, The Sunday Times, Stern, Geo, Le Monde, La Repubblica and Marie Claire.
His work has also been exhibited in museums in England and Switzerland.
Galimberti does not appear to have addressed the controversy, although Instagram commenters have flooded some of his photos and harshly criticized the photo sets as child pornography.
Balenciaga previously showed two images on its website of young children cuddling the plush handbags, which have now apparently been wiped down.
The first photo in the online shop shows a young red-haired child standing on a soft pink bed and holding a white teddy bag by the leather strap.
In addition to wearing spiked leather bracelets around the bear’s arms and legs, the stuffed animal also wears a cropped mesh top with a chain and padlock around its neck.
In the gift shop section of the website there is another image of a child standing on a sofa and holding a purple furry toy bag.
Italian photographer Galimberti promoted the images as part of a series of projects he called “Toy Stories,” in an apparent reference to the Disney/Pixar film series
Outraged parents branded the images “creepy and wrong” on social media.
In addition to a leather S&M outfit, the plush toy also wears what looks like a black lace thong.
In the background of the picture, a blue toy bag is placed on a side table and wrapped with additional studded leather straps.
Although the bags are not yet available on the website, the images have been created to promote the items in their gift range – including reusable coffee cups and a dog harness.
Unsurprisingly, the campaign images have caused a stir on social media with parents branding them “creepy” and “uncomfortable”.
“It’s shocking how many adults must have been involved,” mused one Twitter user. “Parents, photographers, creative directors, copywriters, design agency staff, producers, managers, advertisers… and none of them thought, “Wait a minute?”
Parents were amazed the photoshoot was approved, with some describing the images as “uncomfortable”.
Mumsnet users expressed outrage at the images, accusing the brand of trying to “shock” people.
Another raged: “Jesus this is just creepy and wrong.”
Over on Mumsnet, parents voiced objections to the “highly inappropriate” photoshoot.
One wrote: “B****y typical Balenciaga.” They are shocked to attract attention to the overpriced garbage. It’s like a social experiment about how ridiculous the products are, and yet people still buy the garbage.
“However, this is disgusting and bordering on depravity. “What made this child’s parents think this was anything normal I cannot imagine.”
“This is a very unpleasant image,” another added.
Conservative commentator Candace Owens called out Kim Kardashian and sister