Validating Balenciaga’s ridiculous conspiracy theory on Twitter

Balenciaga may have left Twitter, but that didn’t stop the site’s users from dissecting the luxury brand’s every move.

On November 21, June Nicole Labine, aka @shoe0nhead, took to Elon Musk’s Twitter account to suggest that the luxury fashion label is conspiring to exploit children — a baseless claim made even more ridiculous by the YouTuber’s logic.

She began by highlighting some photos from Balenciaga’s holiday gift campaign, which starred baby models clutching the brand’s belted teddy bear bags, and the accessories debuted at Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 runway show.

While some have taken issue with Balenciaga’s decision to place BDSM-inspired bags in the hands of young children, the isolated campaign doesn’t exactly point to a broader conspiracy.

However, Lappin builds her case by falsely linking the images to images from an entirely separate image – again, completely separate Campaign to promote Balenciaga’s collaboration with adidas.

Said photos feature a Three Stripes collaborative handbag on top of a very formal-looking stack of documents.

When zoomed in, a comment from one of these documents is revealed United States v. Williamsa Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Protection Act, a federal law that criminalizes advertising, promotion, display, or distribution of child pornography.

Strange choice in the clothing line? definitely. Definitive proof that Balenciaga is, as Lappin suggests, hinting at something illegal? barely.

She goes on to cite Balenciaga’s deleted Instagram feed as further indication of the brand’s supposed guilt. Of course, anyone who follows the company knows that it periodically wipes out its feed and fills the blank page to its last drop.

Before Lapine’s conspiratorial tweets went viral, Balenciaga’s official Instagram was replenished with new photos of Garde-Robe’s Spring 2023 collection, which launched for pre-order on the morning of November 21.

Some particularly ardent conspiracy theorists have begun commenting on Balenciaga’s recent posts with references to Lappin’s allegations, which have since garnered tens of thousands of likes and retweets.

On November 22, Balenciaga took down the comments on her Instagram page and posted a story apologizing for the drama surrounding her holiday gift campaign.

“The plush bear bags were not meant to appear with children in this campaign,” the statement reads. “We have immediately removed the campaign from all platforms.”

Two hours later, Balenciaga posted a follow-up story dealing with those court documents emerging from under an adidas bag, a quick response that may have been spurred on by Kanye’s controversy that he only got away with the month prior.

She explained, “We are taking legal action against the parties responsible for creating the group and including unapproved elements in the photo session of the Spring 23 campaign.” “We advocate for the safety and well-being of children.”

Balenciaga did not immediately respond to Highsnobiety’s request for further comment.

While it’s tempting to buy into Lapin’s flamboyant plot line, it offers no evidence that Balenciaga is, as she suggests, connected in some sort of Epstein child abuse ring.

Also misleading: its claim that the image contains a copy of United States v. Williams It’s part of the same campaign featuring Balenciaga’s teddy bears (which, by the way, are decked out more like punks from the ’80s than real leather fetishes).

Of course, it does what the internet does best: making mountains out of hills in the name of clicks.

Hey, we all do it, but at least Lapine can get her facts right.

or not! The story may be completely baseless but it is sounds offensive, which was enough to get him mentioned on Tucker Carlson’s famous fact-free primetime show. As a result, Twitter conservatives are piling on the lies. Exactly as Elon intended!