Monday 28 November 2022 12:23 AM Kim Kardashian speaks out about Balenciaga row after children are depicted ... trends now

Kim Kardashian has issued a statement in the wake of a controversy involving the fashion house Balenciaga, who she's been in business with for years, after the company was linked to a fashion shoot placing children alongside BDSM-themed items.

The reality star, 42, said that while she was 'shaken' to see the images in the controversial ad campaign, she wanted to speak with officials at the designer to understand how it came to be.

'I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been shocked 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,' the Los Angeles-born celebrity said in a statement on her Instagram page.

She continued 'As a mother of four, I have been shaken by those disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and anything against it should have no place in our society - period.'

Kardashian said that she is comfortable with how the company reacted to the scandal.

'I appreciate Balenciaga’s removal of the campaigns and apology. 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.'

Kardashian's statement came after the fashion house filed a pair of $25 million lawsuits in connection with the ad campaign against the producers who came up with showing children holding teddy bears in BDSM gear for the promotion of its spring collection. 

The fashion house from Spain is suing ad production company North Six Inc., as well as set designer Nicholas Des Jardins and his own brand for including images of legal documents on the US Supreme Court's decision on child pornography laws in the same ad campaign. 

Alleging that North Six and Des Jardins had purposefully included the judicial records in the ad without telling its executives, Balenciaga has described the move as 'malevolent, or at the very least, extraordinarily reckless'. 

The high-end luxury brand is added that it is now looking to 'redress for extensive damages defendants caused in connection with an advertising campaign Balenciaga hired them to produce,' read a summons from the Manhattan Supreme Court. 

Among the clothing worn by the children's toys in the ads are fishnet stockings, chokers, string vests and chains leading to many on social media to refer to it as 'child porn' and 'disturbing.'

Perhaps the most shocking image is that of a document from a previous advertisement, pictured close to a child and tucked under a purse, the 2008 Supreme Court ruling United States v Williams which examined if laws against the promotion of child pornography were in violation of the first amendment.