In the wake of a disgusting ad campaign featuring young children, a teddy bear in BDSM gear, satanic imagery and more (oh, and a few Balenciaga items), luxury retailer Balenciaga is taking a huge and deserved financial hit.
Balenciaga’s holiday sales were heavily impacted by the scandal, which hit in late November, and they’ve responded to the sales slump by slashing prices on its items by as much as 70 percent. In addition, Kim Kardashian, one of Balenciaga’s most influential brand ambassadors, is cutting prices of her Balenciaga pieces at the Kardashian Kloset resale website — but not even close to 70 percent off. (You wouldn’t expect that from the savvy businesswoman, would you?)
An equity research report released last week said that Q4 results for Balenciaga’s parent company, Kerig, “could be as bad as it gets” in the wake of the scandal.
Balenciaga’s CEO and creative director both issued apologies after the ad campaign’s depravity was publicized around the world, and filed a $25 million lawsuit against the set designer and the production company they blamed for the ad campaign, but dropped the suit just a week later.
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