Married At First Sight star Ella Ding has stirred up controversy by openly supporting Balenciaga after the fashion label sparked outrage over its bondage-themed campaign featuring children.
Last year, Balenciaga copped severe backlash when they released their 2022 Holiday advertising campaign, which depicted children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage attire, and its Spring/Summer 2023 campaign featuring pages from a US Supreme Court decision on child pornography laws.
In a TikTok video shared to her best friend Domenica Calarco account earlier this week, the two MAFS star showed off their outfits to fans which featured local brands and several designer pieces.
When it was Ella’s turn to display her look, the ex-reality star flaunted a pair of black Misha Urban pants, a STAX T-shirt, a Zara blazer and a Louis Vuitton handbag.
Ella also pointed out her white sneakers by Balenciaga.
‘Yep, still rocking Balenci,’ Dom said in the clip.
‘Don’t give a f**k. Love the sneakers, I’m still gonna wear them,’ Ella answered.
Shortly after the video was uploaded, influencer watchdog account @influencertea_aus shared the moment to their own Instagram page, urging Dom and Ella to ‘do better’.
Fans also expressed their shock and disappointment in the comments.
Married At First Sight star Ella Ding has stirred up controversy by openly supporting Balenciaga after the fashion label sparked outrage over its bondage-themed campaign featuring children
In a TikTok video shared to her best friend Domenica Calarco account earlier this week, the two MAFS star showed off their outfits to fans which featured local brands and several designer pieces, including the Balenciaga sneakers
‘They always show their spots in the end,’ one user wrote.
‘Nooooo I thought Ella was better than this,’ added another.
Meanwhile others defended Dom and Ella, pointing out the double standard with other big name fashion labels.
‘Yep, still rocking Balenci,’ Dom said in the clip. ‘Don’t give a f**k. Love the sneakers, I’m still gonna wear them,’ Ella answered
‘But I think if she already bought them before the fallout, what’s the issue? Maybe gloating about it isn’t the right move but throwing them away just to prove a point seems dumb?’ someone commented.
‘I bet loads of influencers who jumped on wagon to cancel Balenciaga still own and wear their stuff, they just don’t say they do.’
The scandal surrounding Balenciaga erupted when the label released its 2022 Holiday ad campaign that featured children posing with its Plush Toy Bag. The bags look like teddy bears and are dressed in BDSM gear.
In the photos, the children also appeared surrounded by empty wine and champagne glasses.
Shortly after the video was uploaded, influencer watchdog account @influencertea_aus shared the moment to their own Instagram page, urging Dom and Ella to ‘do better’
The distinctly adult themes immediately troubled many who asked why children had ever been used.
Kim Kardashian, the brand’s biggest ambassador, said she’d be ‘re-evaluating’ her relationship with the fashion house in light of the scandal, but fell short of distancing herself from the brand for good.
Balenciaga initially ignored the scandal around the teddy bear photos and seemingly allowed the photographer who was involved, Gabriele Galimberti, to take the heat.
Balenciaga triggered outrage with its 2022 Holiday advertising campaign, which depicted children holding teddy bears that were dressed in bondage attire (pictured)
He released a statement saying he had no control over the content of the shoot and eventually Balenciaga released its own statement agreeing with him and taking responsibility for the campaign.
After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely.
They soon discovered that in the background of an image from the Spring ’23 campaign was a printout of a Supreme Court ruling on whether or not internet child porn can be legally considered free speech.
Balenciaga, which is popular with A-list celebrities including the likes of Kim Kardashian – deleted two shocking images showing two young girls holding a teddy bear in bondage style gear on the gift shop section of its website
After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely. They soon discovered that in the background of an image from the Spring ’23 campaign was a printout of a Supreme Court ruling on whether or not internet child porn can be legally considered free speech (pictured)
On the back of the bears scandal, many critics said it pointed to a troubling pattern within Balenciaga.
Balenciaga was quick to blame North Six, a production company that helped arrange the shoot, for the inclusion of those documents.
They claimed that they entrusted all of the props from the photoshoot to North Six, and that their team was assured everything that was included was fake.
This is the July ad campaign which featured the printout of the US Supreme Court child porn ruling
THE BALENCIAGA SCANDAL: BONDAGE BEARS, CHILD PORN DOCS AND AN ARTIST KNOWN FOR DEPICTING NAKED KIDS
The Bondage Bears Christmas campaign
The scandal erupted when Balenciaga released its 2022 Holiday ad campaign that featured children posing with its Plush Toy Bag. The bags look like teddy bears and are dressed in BDSM gear.
In the photo shoot, the kids also appeared surrounded by empty wine and champagne glasses.
The distinctly adult themes immediately troubled many who asked why children had ever been used.
Balenciaga ignored the scandal at first and seemingly allowed the photographer who was involved, Gabriele Galimberti, to take the heat.
He released a statement saying he had no control over the content of the shoot and eventually, Balenciaga released its own statement agreeing with him and taking responsibility for the campaign.
It has now been pulled from the internet.
The hidden child porn documents
After the BDSM bears fiasco, eagle-eyed critics started examining the rest of Balenciaga’s campaigns closely.
They soon discovered that in the background of an image from the Spring ’23 campaign was a printout of a Supreme Court ruling on whether or not internet child porn can be legally considered free speech.
On the back of the bears scandal, many critics said it pointed to a troubling pattern within Balenciaga.
Balenciaga was quick to blame North Six, a production company that helped arrange the shoot, for the inclusion of those documents.
They claimed that they entrusted all of the props from the photoshoot to North Six, and that their team was assured everything that was included was fake.
The troubling book of artist whose work depicts naked, castrated toddlers
Balenciaga is yet to answer for the inclusion of a book by Michael Borremans in the background of two of the images from the Spring ’23 campaign.
Borremans is a Belgian painter whose work includes a troubling 2017 series called Fire From The Sun.
It depicts naked toddlers – some of them castrated – playing in a group and at times alone.
Lawyers for the brand are yet to address DailyMail.com’s questions about how the book ended up on the photoshoot.
In this image from Balenciaga’s scrapped Spring ’23 campaign, Isabelle Huppert sits in front of a stack of books including one that celebrates Michael Borremans, a Belgian painter whose work is known to include depictions of castrated toddlers
Borremans’ other work includes his 2017 series Fire From The Sun, which features castrated toddlers and babies holding what look like severed limbs, while playing together nude in a large group