• Balenciaga's creative director has apologized for the fashion brands now-pulled holiday ad campaign.
  • The recent controversial campaign was accused of sexualizing children.
  • Designer Demna Gvasalia said it was the "wrong artistic choice" in an Instagram post.

Balenciaga's creative director has broken his silence on the luxury fashion brand's controversial holiday ad campaign that featured children holding plush teddy bear bags outfitted in bondage gear. 

Designer Demna Gvasalia apologized for the now-pulled ad campaign — which was accused of sexualizing children — and said it was the "wrong artistic choice" in an Instagram post on Friday. 

"I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids and I take my responsibility. It was inappropriate to have kids promote objects that had nothing to do with them," the Georgian designer wrote. 

A post shared by Demna (@demna)

 

Gvasalia added, "As much as I would sometimes like to provoke a thought through my work, I would NEVER have an intention to do that with such an awful subject as child abuse that I condemn. Period."

"I need to learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organizations to know how I can contribute and help on this terrible subject," he said. 

Gvasalia continued, "I apologize to anyone offended by the visuals and Balenciaga has guaranteed that adequate measures will be taken not only to avoid similar mistakes in the future but also to take accountability in protecting child welfare in every way we can."

Read the original article on Insider