Kim Kardashian is wearing Balenciaga again. The reality star stepped out in the label during a recent trip to Japan months after the fashion house released a controversial campaign that featured children posing with BDSM-inspired stuffed animals.
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While it’s not immediately clear if Kardashian, 42, ever stopped sporting the brand, she noted at the time of the controversy that she was reevaluating their relationship. More recently, she shared photos of herself via Instagram in Balenciaga pieces while visiting Tokyo with daughters North, 9, and Chicago, 5, on Sunday, April 2. In the snaps, the Skims CEO is seen rocking a massive pink fur coat by the company paired with their coordinating fuzzy handbag. She also accessorized with Balenciaga’s metallic sunglasses.
In prior social media posts, Kardashian appeared to have broken her months-long Balenciaga streak with labels like Rick Owens, Reform and Magda Butrym in the wake of Balenciaga’s scandal. She was also seen in a number of looks from her collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana.
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Balenciaga’s promotion for their Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which dropped in November 2022, featured two young girls holding the purses — that were designed to look like teddy bears in BDSM-inspired looks — while surrounded by Balenciaga products, including clothing and home goods. Other images, where the children weren’t present, showed a handbag resting atop a mess of files and paperwork — which turned out to include an excerpt from a Supreme Court case on child pornography.
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After the ad was met with backlash, Kardashian — who has worked with the Spanish fashion house many times, posing for campaigns and wearing the brand at the Met Gala — called the images “disturbing.”
“I have been quiet for the past few days, not because I haven’t been shocked and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns,” the SKKN by Kim founder wrote via Twitter at the time. “But because I wanted an opportunity to speak to their team to understand for myself how this could have happened.”
Kardashian — who also shares son Saint, 7, and Psalm, 3, with ex-husband Kanye West — continued: “As a mother of four, I have been shaken by the disturbing images. The safety of children must be held with the highest regard and any attempts to normalize child abuse of any kind should have no place in our society — period.”
She concluded, “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.”
The Selfish author spoke out again during a December 2022 episode of the “Angie Martinez IRL” podcast. “As soon as I saw what everyone was seeing on the internet and the reality of the situation I completely spoke out and gave my thoughts on child pornography. I completely denounced it,” she said.
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Demna, Balenciaga’s creative director, addressed the situation that same month, sharing: “I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids. I take my responsibility. It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them.” He went on to explain that while he often tries to “provoke” thought through his work, he “would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period.”
He added: “I need to learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organizations to know how I can contribute and help on this terrible subject. I apologize to anyone offended by the visuals and Balenciaga has guaranteed that adequate measures will be taken not only to avoid similar mistakes in the future but also to take accountability in protecting child welfare in every way we can.”
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