During the last days of Paris Fashion Week, Balenciaga reemerged with a 2024 Spring/Summer collection with one of its top ambassadors, Kim Kardashian, modeling its upcoming summer collection.
The resurgence of Balenciaga comes a year after the company faced backlash in November over its ad campaigns. One ad featured children holding teddy bears that were dressed in BDSM gear. In another, court documents that pertained to a U.S. Supreme Court case about child pornography and books that contained depictions of children in violent and disturbing environments were also photographed.
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Since the controversy broke out, the disgraced company has since released statements addressing the backlash. "We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative," said Balenciaga in a statement. Balenciaga also filed and dropped a $25 million lawsuit against the producers of its controversial Garde-Robe campaign and put out a job listing for a crisis management expert in March.
As for Kardashian’s relationship with Balenciaga, who she has collaborated with for years, she initially seemed to avoid wearing the brand since she responded to the scandal on Twitter days after news broke out and amid being pressured by fans to cut ties with the brand. At the time, she tweeted that she was “disgusted and outraged by the recent Balenciaga campaigns,” and that she was reevaluating her relationship with the company. But after months of not being seen publicly wearing Balenciaga, Kardashian appeared dressed in the brand in April during a trip to Japan and was later spotted sporting a “Kill Bill” inspired piece from the brand's Summer 2023 collection in an Instagram post with the caption “You and I have unfinished business.”
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Despite efforts from Balenciaga to salvage their brand, and a few appearances with Kardashian sporting the brand’s pieces, Balenciaga’s fall from grace may be too deep to pull from the fire. According to a July press release by Kering, the company that owns Balenciaga, the once top-leading fashion brand has continued to face a decline in earnings during the first half of 2023. Balenciaga, labeled under “Other Houses” in the report saw its income dip by 34%.
