The fashion world produces all sorts of weirdness. This latest ad/controversy was extremely cringey and certainly provides ample grist for the QAnon conspiracy theory mill. However, I haven’t seen any evidence Balenciaga actually supports child abuse. So along with the darkest possible interpretation, consider these alternative explanations:
1. A very misguided attempt at being edgy.
2. A very poorly-articulated attempt at a statement *against* child abuse, a “raising awareness” kind of thing gone wrong.
3. A completely thoughtless concept cooked up at 3 a.m. because some designer was facing a deadline.
I find all of those way more plausible. Either way, Balenciaga has ended up with egg on its face, rightly so. This garbage should have died on the cutting room floor.
Caption this Meme