Balenciaga fan cuts up thousands worth of clothes over teddy bear photoshoot scandal
A woman has destroyed almost £2,300 worth of Balenciaga clothes over the brand’s controversial ad campaign involving children clutching ‘BDSM’ teddy bears.
Chloe Hennessey, 27, filmed herself cutting up a Balenciaga hoodie that retails for approximately £600.
She also binned a Balenciaga T-shirt, a pair of sunglasses and a pair of trainers, worth £1,700 in total.
Her decision came after the Spanish-headquartered luxury fashion house ran two controversial ad campaigns involving children and bondage-inspired accessories.
One featured children holding teddy bear purses that appear to be wearing BDSM-inspired accessories, while the other showed paperwork about a Supreme Court ruling on child sex images.
The fashion house has since apologised for both ads and removed them from their social media.
Balenciaga have also filed a lawsuit against production company North Six for its role in creating one of the ads.
Chloe, an aesthetics practitioner, from east London, learned about the scandal on TikTok, when she received negative comments after posting a video of herself wearing her Balenciaga glasses, worth £705.
After looking into it, Chloe decided to get rid of all the branded clothes and accessories she owned and pledged to never support the fashion house again.
Chloe is part of a larger movement of TikTok users, and creators alike, condemning the brand for what they see as the sexualisation of children.
Chloe said: “I actually love Balenciaga. They used to be my favourite brand.
“I had been home with my son as he’s been sick, so I didn’t know what was going on, when I posted the video.
“I was really confused about people calling me a paedophile.”
She continued: “After I started investigation my whole TikTok was flooded with videos about what happened. I felt sick to my stomach.
“People have asked why I didn’t just donate my stuff, but if I did someone else would be wearing it and promoting them.
“Obviously I’m not rich, so it was annoying to have to get rid of all of it, but taking a stand is so much more important in my opinion.”
