Style is nothing without its friends of furry. Simon Porte Jacquemus has his tailor-made miniature dachshund, and of course there was no Karl Lagerfeld without Choupette (the late designer’s favorite cat, said to be the only successor to the $300 million dollar fortune).
Yeah, Balenciaga knows that but they also know that buying livestock from selective breeders is not in the best interests of the animal. Appropriately, the latest Balenciaga capsule and ’90s-inspired online advertisement called “I LOVE PETS” launched 10% of the proceeds to La SPA, an animal protection organization that has been supporting animal welfare since 1845.
The capsule features jewelry, tote bags and two tees with “I LOVE CATS”/”MEOW” and “I LOVE DOGS”/”WOOF” on the back along with details on safe animal adaption and a guide to the Balenciaga website. Speaking of the website, the latest advertisement pays a charming tribute to early web hosting sites such as Angelfire and GeoCites with Comic Sans MS and low-res gifs aplenty. There is also a cute gallery of saved pets kept by Balenciaga’s own employees.
Is it ironic that Balenciaga is owned by Kering, a corporation notorious for the use of fur in its products, that is launching a campaign to encourage animal welfare? Who’s to say why. Maybe that’s the mix.
It’s not the first time a brand has been using its workers’ animal friends for an advertisement. The FW20 lookbook of Acne studios showed workers posing with their dogs.
You can now buy this shirts at Balenciaga
