Father Of Balenciaga Child Defends Controversial 'BDSM' Ad: 'Blown Out Of All Propotion'

High-end luxury fashion brand Balenciaga is garnering quite the notoriety following accusations about their latest ad campaign supposedly promoting child abuse and BDSM.

The Christmas campaign features children models posing in bondage getups and holding onto pornographic teddy bears for the fashion line's reported BDSM-themed shoot. Although numerous people globally have expressed disgust towards the fashion house for the campaign, the father of one of the child models appears not to share the same opinion as he defended Balenciaga.

A British child model who posed for Balenciaga reportedly seems to have had a blast while working with the brand, based on her father's candid words to the outlet. The model's dad, who stayed anonymous, revealed that he was present at the shoot, which he called "an enjoyable day out" while insisting that the campaign pictures were taken "totally out of context." He said:

"No parent would actively encourage the child to take part in something which was pornographic, and I think the publicity surrounding what happened has been blown out of all proportion."

It is important to note that the cushy bears used in the campaign are almost naked and donning sadism and masochism-style straps with chains and studs, promoting Balenciaga's 'plush bear' handbag collection. This has also triggered calls for a boycott on social media; however, the designer has issued a full apology for the campaign, declaring that it "strongly" condemned every form of child abuse.

Meanwhile, Balenciaga's photographer Gabriele Galimberti faced a raging onslaught online, but the father of one of the child models asserted that Galimberti was "innocent" of any misbehavior. He also mentioned that all the models featured in the campaign were children of the Spanish fashion house employees who were at the shoot and had approved the campaign.

The father felt "desperately sorry" for the photographer as he believed he was only doing his job by taking the photographs for Balenciaga. He also thought that the shoot had nothing directly to do with Galimberti.

While maintaining that the parents all knew what went down during the photo shoot, the anonymous father stressed that Galimberti was an "accomplished" photographer who did not deserve all the backlash he got. He further said:

"[Galimberti] is innocent and has been drawn into all this unfairly. It was a really enjoyable day, but it has now all been ruined because people have taken it all out of context and created an international media storm."

"If I felt at any time that it was inappropriate," he continued, "I would have stepped in, and I'm sure the other parents would have done the same, but no one did." Nevertheless, the campaign images, generated from a day-long shoot in Paris earlier in November, have now been deleted from the brand's website and social media platforms.

Given the scandal around the company, several A-listers associated with the brand have come under fire. One such icon is Kim Kardashian, who has publicly addressed the matter on social media.

She took to Twitter to clarify her reasons for not immediately speaking up against Balenciaga's controversial campaign. The socialite admitted to being appalled by the images and wanted a chance to talk to the designer's team to understand how much could have happened. 

She further confessed that as a mother, she was "shaken by the disturbing images" but appreciated the company's "removal of the campaign" and their apology. As for her future with Balenciaga, it remains uncertain as she is "currently re-evaluating" her relationship with them.

While Balenciaga made headlines for cutting ties with Kanye West following his anti-semitic remarks and now the child pornography scandal, a couple of celebrities are trying to dissociate themselves from the brand.

The Blast reported that supermodel Bella Hadid is among the many as she recently removed snaps of herself modeling for the designer, including the most recent campaign for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection.

The collection debuted during the Paris Fashion Week, and the now-deleted pictures featured two youngsters clutching bears and putting on what may be fetish outfits. Fans were not taken with Hadid's partnership with the fashion line as they reacted with harsh comments, ensuring to include #cancelbalenciaga. 

According to Page Six, a social media user advised Hadid to address the "unethical aspects" of Balenciaga's recent campaign to avoid being connected with the brand. However, she is yet to release any statement.