Balenciaga snapper threatened with 'hate mail' for BDSM kids shoot

Gabriele Galimberti has distanced himself from the controversial campaign, claiming he had no oversight over the creative direction of the luxury brand's holiday shoot.

Gabriele Galimberti has distanced herself from the controversial campaign, claiming she had no oversight over the creative direction of the luxury brand's holiday shoot.

The photographer behind the Balenciaga's controversial kids holiday campaign has shifted the blame for the "creepy" shoot back onto the fashion label, claiming she was "not entitled" to stage the shoot, nor able to offer a professional opinion. 

National Geographic photographer Gabriele Galimberti shot the campaign for the luxury French label, featuring two child models posing with harnessed bear handbags from its Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 collection. The plush toys are dressed in bondage and BDSM garb, like fishnet tops, leather harnesses and collars with locks.

Balenciaga under fire over 'disgusting' ads of children. Picture: Balenciaga.

The shoot was swiftly condemned by the online peanut gallery, and Balenciaga issued an apology for "any offense our holiday campaign may have caused."

“We sincerely apologise for any offense our holiday campaign may have caused,” the brand wrote in a statement published on Instagram. “Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

Now, Galimberti has issued a statement following "hundreds of hate mails and messages I received as a result of the photos I took for the Balenciaga campaign", shifting the blame for the "Toy Stories" holiday campaign back on the brand.

"I am not in a position to comment Balenciaga’s choices, but I must stress that I was not entitled in whatsoever manner to neither chose the products, nor the models, nor the combination of the same," he wrote on Instagram.

"As a photographer, I was only and solely requested to lit the given scene, and take the shots according to my signature style. As usual for a commercial shooting, the direction of the campaign and the choice of the objects displayed are not in the hands of the photographer.

"I suspect that any person prone to pedophilia searches on the web and has unfortunately a too easy access to images completely different than mine, absolutely explicit in their awful content. Lynching like these are addressed against wrong targets, and distract from the real problem, and criminals."

On Monday, Youtuber June Nicole Lapine, better known as @shoe0nhead, drew attention to the campaign on Twitter: “The brand ‘Balenciaga’ just did a uh….. interesting… photoshoot for their new products recently which included a very purposely poorly hidden court document about ‘virtual child porn’ normal stuff.”

the brand "Balenciaga" just did a uh..... interesting... photoshoot for their new products recently which included a very purposely poorly hidden court document about 'virtual child porn'

normal stuff pic.twitter.com/zjMN5WhZ0s

— shoe (@shoe0nhead) November 21, 2022

The “purposely poorly hidden court document” as highlighted in Lapine’s tweet, is reportedly an extract of court papers from the 2008 Supreme Court Case, United States v Williams, which criminalised the pandering of child pornography. The photo that featured this document was not part of Balenciaga’s “Toy Stories” campaign; but from an entirely separate campaign for the brand’s collaboration with Adidas.

In a second statement posted to the brand's Instagram story, Balenciaga addressed the "unapproved" court documents featured in its Adidas campaign, noting that they are "taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the set."

Galimberti said he had "no connection with the photo where a Supreme Court document appears. That one was taken in another set by other people and and was falsely associated with my photos."

Balenciaga apology via Instagram.

On November 14, Balenciaga removed its Twitter account, becoming the first major fashion brand to leave the platform since Elon Musk's takeover.