Monday 28 November 2022 10:08 PM Business of Fashion REVOKES award for Balenciaga creative director Demna ... trends now
Balenciaga's creative director Demna Gvasalia. He has not yet issued a personal comment
The Balenciaga boycott set in on Monday with the Business of Fashion revoking an award given to the fashion house's creative director Demna Gvasalia in protest over three scandals involving children's images.
BoF had awarded Demna the Global VOICES Award, an honor previously given to the late designer Virgil Abloh.
VOICES is a three day event that begins tomorrow and features prominent members of the fashion industry.
Balenciaga and Demna, a 41-year-old Georgian native who previously designed for Vetements, were darlings of the industry and were likely to be praised at the event.
That was until the brand was slammed with criticism for its use of child models in an ad featuring bondage-styled teddy bears and surrounded by wine and champagne glasses.
They were then panned for including a SCOTUS ruling on child porn and whether it is protected by free speech in the background of one of its ad campaign images.
On Monday, it was also revealed that a book celebrating a Belgian artist known for depicting castrated toddlers was also in the background of other campaign images.
Balenciaga has taken the inescapable blame for the campaign featuring children, but tried to blame the SCOTUS ruling on a production company.
It claimed the production company had control over the props used and assured them that all of the items in the photos were fake.
In a statement on Monday afternoon BoF said: 'Earlier this year, we invited Balenciaga's creative director Demna to BoF VOICES to receive our Global VOICES Award for 2022
1 Granary, which was founded by Central Saint Martins students to represent talent in the fashion industry, condemned Balenciaga's response
It has not yet addressed the book about the artist, or his graphic depictions of children.
In a statement on Monday afternoon BoF said: 'Earlier this year, we invited Balenciaga's creative director Demna to BoF VOICES to receive our Global VOICES Award for 2022.
'At BoF, we hold the safety of children in the highest regard.
'And like many, we have been seeking the truth about how children appeared with BDSM-inspired products in Balenciaga's recent campaign images, which are wholly inconsistent with our values.
'As a result, we will not be presenting Demna with the Global VOICES Award this year. Nonetheless, we asked the leadership at Balenciaga to come to VOICES to take responsibility for releasing these images and offer an explanation.
Balenciaga withdrew this holiday campaign featuring BDSM bears, wine and champagne glasses, after widespread backlash
This is the July ad campaign which featured the printout of the SCOTUS child porn ruling
