Luxury brand Gucci and artist Harry Styles have come under fire from social media for some curious aspects of the brand’s HA HA HA ad campaign. The artist and Gucci began working together last year and, in June of this year, announced their partnership for a menswear collection.
Balenciaga, another Kering-owned brand, has recently received backlash and worldwide boycotts from customers and celebrities. Following promotional photos showing children holding stuffed animals dressed in BDSM, several partners cut ties with the company, and people went so far as to destroy their Balenciaga merchandise.
Read on to learn more.
HA HA HA Gucci And Harry Styles Collection
Instagram/gucci
A few weeks after the Balenciaga incident erupted, Gucci and Styles may have some issues in common. In a promotional post for Gucci’s HA HA HA ad campaign shared on the brand’s page last week, the artist is shown in a white T-shirt with an angry-looking pink teddy bear design. He’s also holding on to what looks like a child-sized mattress.
The shirt has lyrics from Styles’ 2019 song “Watermelon Sugar” on it, “I want more berries and that summer feeling.” The Kering-owned brand captioned the photo, “A performance piece starring Harry Styles and the Gucci collection HA HA HA. Discover the campaign at the link in the bio.”
The brand went into more detail about the piece on its website, revealing that it was the product of Styles’ friendship with Alessandro Michele, a creative director. “Play is at the heart of the collection, which uses menswear as an avant-garde tool,” he said.
“Shot by Mark Borthwick, the series of images sees Harry Styles showcase a ‘dream wardrobe’ defined by an eccentric use of romantic accents, whimsical prints, vintage details and individual expressive emotions.”
Fans Slam Harry Styles X Gucci Ad Campaign
Instagram/gucci
Some people on social media seemed to think differently about the piece, accusing the fashion brand’s ad maker of being a “creep”. Others criticized Styles, saying the outfit didn’t suit the artist at all “as a grown man.”
Comment asks, “Kids and adult men’s mattresses – What stories are they selling?”
Another wrote, “Is this an ad for a children’s mattress? If not…. Why is a children’s mattress accompanied by a man in a fashion ad…… What are you trying to normalize.”
“Unless she is going to announce her pregnancy, there is nothing else that can justify the Mattress. don’t want to hear it!!!!!!” a fan mistakenly wrote.
Concerned fans questioned Styles, asking what was fashionable about his outfit and calling him “clueless”. “But honestly. @Harry_Styles what’s stylish about anything here? your color The twin size mattress is weird AF. What is the meaning? Why is it there? A child’s mattress and you’re wearing a pink teddy bear… why are actors so clueless,” the comment read.
Gucci And Harry Styles Launch HA HA HA Collab In June
Instagram/gucci
While talking to Vogue in June, Michele, the project’s creative director, revealed that she and Styles had been friends for years before deciding to work on a collection together a year earlier. He said the collection was aimed at the artist’s many millennial fans and was first introduced at the menswear edition of Milan Fashion Week.
Michele says, “We got together about a year ago when I said, ‘why don’t we do something.’” She explained that a large part of the design process happened through WhatsApp communication. This, according to the creative director, is because “whenever we meet, maybe we prefer to chat about personal life, you know, with a glass of wine. But fashion is always there.”
Michele and Styles shot the campaign last month, and the creative director left his role soon after. Since the beginning of the backlash, neither Styles nor Gucci have commented on it. The luxury brand has however posted a few pictures since then.
Balenciaga Faces Similar Backlash Over Teddy Bear ‘BDSM’
Twitter/LilaRose
A few weeks earlier, Balenciaga was put before the firing squad after a controversial campaign featuring children. In one of the photos, there is a poorly hidden document from a Supreme Court case that mentions a section of federal child pornography law.
Following the backlash and boycott, Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia, issued a statement taking full responsibility for the photo. He wrote, “I would like to personally apologize for the wrong choice of artistic concept for a gifting campaign with children, and I take my responsibility.”
“It is inappropriate to ask children to promote objects that have nothing to do with them,” Gvasalia continued. “I need to learn from this, listen and engage with child protection organizations to find out how I can contribute and help in this terrible thing.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
