This week, Kering, the parent company of controversial luxury label Balenciaga, is facing another PR crisis over anger over a commercial photo for Gucci, another of the company’s brands.
Styles appears in the Gucci ad, which debuted Nov. 2, as she posed next to a toddler-sized mattress while wearing a teddy bear T-shirt. Teddy bears were also at the heart of Balenciaga’s advertising controversy, which led many people to criticize or boycott the company for its use of disturbing images of children.
“Play is at the heart of the Gucci HA HA HA collection…after all, the name is the onomatopoeia of the written essence of the ‘smiling face’ emoji, as well as the serial crisis of the initials of ‘Harry’ and ‘Alessandro’ ‘ said the brand in November when the campaign, which they called a ‘performance piece’, was released. “Starting from those little quirks that come together in childish visions, it turns into a ‘dream wardrobe’ that reflects the two creative minds behind the collection.”
“Captured by Mark Borthwick, the series of photos features Harry Styles displaying the ‘dream wardrobe’ defined by the eccentric use of romantic accents, whimsical prints, vintage details and the expressive emotionality of the individual,” concludes the Gucci site.
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Why does #gucci Have Harry Styles pose, a grown man with a kid’s mattress and a pink teddy bear t-shirt? I don’t like this. pic.twitter.com/1Fc2kIDcjN
— Gillian McKeith (@GillianMcKeith) December 18, 2022
Social media users, including Alexandra Gucci Zarini, whose great-grandfather founded Gucci, seized the ad as yet another fashion faux pas.
“Why would you make a ‘performance piece’ with a toddler mattress and a grown man?” Zarini wrote on Instagram. “My concern is that there seems to be a common ideology in Kering’s fashion houses.”
“A toddler mattress with a grown man and a teddy bear on his shirt…Symbolism will be their downfall,” another person noticed.
Alessandro Michele, former creative director of Gucci, came up with the idea for the ad. Gucci announced at the end of November that Michele would step down after seven years.
But Twitter users said the photos are “not a good look” for Styles “like a grown man.”
“Why are all fashion brand advertisers sick creeps?” asked another person.
“A kid’s mattress and a teddy bear shirt, nothing to see here unless you’re a pervert,” another stated.
“But fair. @Harry_Styles, what’s fashionable about this? Your shades? The twin-sized mattress is weird AF. What does it mean? Why is it there? A children’s mattress and you’re carrying a pink teddy bear…why do actors have such a desperate idea,’ another wrote.
Alessandro Michele, the campaign’s former creative director, oversaw the concept and shooting in November.
Kering, a global luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, owns both Gucci and Balenciaga.
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Last lines
Gucci’s new ad campaign, featuring Harry Styles in a teddy bear T-shirt next to a toddler bed, has been widely panned.
A few weeks after sister brand Balenciaga caused a stir on social media over the child photo incident, Gucci’s latest HA HA HA ad campaign has sparked a backlash.
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