Balenciaga files $25 million lawsuit against its production company

Fashion house Balenciaga requires $25 million in compensation from production companies North Six and Des Jardins, as well as screenwriter Nicolas de Jardin, hired to create a marketing campaign for the release of the spring 2023 collection. In the promo video of the future collection, a page from the Supreme Court ruling on the distribution of child pornography was noticed. The brand accuses the performers of intentionally undermining their reputation and negligent attitude to the performance of work.

At first, the idea behind the ad campaign was to show an office environment, with model Bella Hadid and actress Nicole Kidman appearing amid the chaos. However, the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Williams case appeared in the video on the office desk. Then the defendant managed to avoid full punishment for the distribution of sexualized pictures of children.

A few days earlier, the Balenciaga house had already been at the center of a similar scandal: it was accused of sexualizing children in a new advertisement. Petite models posed for pictures with teddy bear bags in BDSM paraphernalia, and one child posed with a set of empty wine glasses.

A spokesman for North Six claims that the team was mainly involved in concept development, and during the final shooting they did not control the process and were absent from the set. Balenciaga publicly apologized for poor control, but is not going to withdraw the lawsuit against the production company.

Valeria Khaibullina