Demna, the creative director of Balenciaga, broke his silence on the luxury fashion brand’s recent promotional campaign featuring young children dressed in bondage outfits and holding teddy bears.
The haute-couture fashion house has been under fire since it released the ad in November. “I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids and I take my responsibility,” Demna wrote to his Instagram page in his first public comment on the matter.
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“It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them,” Demna continued in the post.
“As much as I would sometimes like to provoke a thought through my work, I would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period,” Demna wrote.
Demna pledged to take action to remedy the situation, and told readers the fashion house will make an effort to avoid such errors in the future. (RELATED: Former Balenciaga Stylist Behind Gruesome Photos Of Children Addresses Allegations)
“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,” he wrote in the post.
“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,” Demna concluded.