Married at First Sight Australia’s Jessika Power has defended her choice to wear the boycotted luxury brand Balenciaga after their photoshoot scandal.
The 30-year-old reality star claimed that she doesn’t like to get involved in controversies and was not making a political statement about her stance towards Balenciaga by wearing a top she just “liked”.
“I don’t even know why I even have to explain this. I wore a Balenciaga shirt last night,” Jessika started in a statement on her Instagram Story.
“My inboxes have been flooded with people going like, ‘I can’t believe you’re supporting the brand’ [and] ‘I can’t believe that you’re wearing it’.”
She continued: “I don’t know what’s really going on… But it was the only thing that I could find that would go with my outfit. I’m not supporting anything. I don’t even know what you guys think I’m supporting.”
Jessika added that she would not be getting rid of or destroying her shirt, despite numerous TikToks and tweets of people burning and cutting up their Balenciaga products.
@designercommunity_ TikTokers are destroying thousands of dollars worth of Balenciaga products to protest the brand’s controversial holiday ad campaign #Balenciaga ♬ original sound – DesignerCommunity
It is unclear whether Jessika will continue to buy from the brand. Other celebrities – such as Kim Kardashian – have also refused to boycott the brand.
Why Was Balenciaga Boycotted?
ICYMI – Balenciaga was widely boycotted over a controversial advertising campaign that featured young children holding altered plush toys that wore leather harnesses and bondage.
While harnesses have been prominent in mainstream fashion for several years, the garments are often considered to be associated with “BDSM” or kink communities. This becomes an issue when minors are involved in the photoshoot.
The luxury brand ran into further scandal after a recent collaboration with Adidas.
A second advertising campaign included images of a handbag sitting on top of a Supreme Court document of United States v. Williams (an upheld federal law that criminalised “advertising, promoting, presenting, or distributing child pornography in the US), according to High Snobiety.
Some believe the two advertising campaigns suggest that Balenciaga supports the distribution of child pornography and that wearing the garments could indicate support for the illegal practice. The conspiracy quickly spread across the internet to varying reactions.
After the international boycott started, Balenciaga released an apology statement for both campaigns and affirmed they would “stand together for children’s safety”.
However, many believe that the brand apologised due to being in “crisis mode” with dropping sales.
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