Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. HOMEPAGE

Destroying your Balenciaga bag on TikTok is futile — the viral protest method may gain TikTokers followers, but it isn't changing how brands behave

Screenshot of Luana Sandien cutting up her Balenciaga dress
Photos influencer Luana Sandien's PR team shared of her cutting up the Balenciaga dress she was to wear to The Fashion Awards in London. Luana Sandien / CO - Press Office

  • Balenciaga is under fire over a recent series of holiday ads.
  • Influencers and TikTok users are filming themselves cutting up their own designer goods.
  • While it can relieve anger, it doesn't quite move the needle for the larger cause at stake.
Advertisement

Just after Thanksgiving, 3.6 million people watched as Gianna Avalos cut through her $1,500 Balenciaga leather bag.

Avalos's video was a personal protest of the Spanish luxury brand — a favorite of celebs like Kim Kardashian and Julia Fox — that's been accused of sexualizing young children in a recent holiday ad campaign. Earlier this week, she told Insider that destroying her Balenciaga tote was meant to raise awareness about the brand's misdeeds. 

"There is a reason why I didn't throw away, repurpose, donate, or sell the bag. I no longer desired for this bag to have a place in our society," the mother of one said.  

It's a profound thought and a principled gesture. We do, after all, hold people with a platform of any kind accountable to speak up about important human rights issues (Kardashian called the ad campaign "disgusting" and said that she's now "reevaluating" her relationship with the brand). That's what Avalos did — or, at least, that's what she intended to do. Yet it's difficult to say whether what she's done will actually move the needle. 

Advertisement

In recent years, brands from Nike to Chanel have been the subject of social media destruction campaigns, with users taking to Instagram and TikTok to publicly ruin their luxury goods. Users have gained millions of views by setting fire to their Yeezys or taking scissors to their Chanel bags. Like so much these days, if it doesn't happen in front of a camera, it's like it hasn't happened at all. 

This is not to undermine what Avalos and many others are doing — they're rightfully upset with the designer brand. Consumers may have made peace with the loss of thousands of dollars in value. Still, it's hard to say whether destroying their personal property will do much to influence Balenciaga or affect its $2.3 billion dollar bottom line.  

The comment sections of some of these viral protests are trying to answer this. Fans have written "respect" and "proud of you" to Serbian musician MC Stojan who cut into his green Balenciaga sneakers. But other top comments noted that acts like his wouldn't hurt Balenciaga much. "They already got your money," some noted.

Screenshot of people cutting up Balenciaga items.
The hashtag #cancelbalenciaga has 70 million TikTok views. Screenshots from TikTok

Some wondered if taking to social media to destroy its luxury goods inadvertently raised Balenciaga's profile. "Am I the only one who thinks that by influencers doing this, they increase the value of Balenciaga?" one wrote. 

Advertisement

Lindsey Solomon, the owner of Lindsey Media, a PR firm for fashion brands, told Insider the bad press and backlash against Balenciaga will absolutely raise the company's visibility. And product sales — if they don't go up because more people are aware of the brand now — won't be threatened at all.

"More than anything, it'll provide a spotlight on Balenciaga for non-fashion consumers or middle America," said Solomon. "It's not going to affect them in the long run, in terms of sales, it's sort of a blip in their year, really."

He predicts that six months from now, people will forget about the controversy altogether. And the brand, known for pulling stunts designed to get the internet riled up, will launch a more positive ad campaign that will naturally have more people paying attention to it and supersede its current controversy.

"Controversy is their best PR tactic. Whether it's unintentional or planned out, they're going to use it to the best of their abilities," he said. "People like to take their moral high ground. But it's not going to change their consumer habits."

Advertisement

And as long as Balenciaga maintains its status among the uber-rich and famous, it has no incentive to rethink its values. (By the way, its new Le Cagole handbag was named an "it" bag among celebrities this year.)

"I don't think Balenciaga is going to change their ways. People are still going to buy; they still love their shoes; they still love their bags," Solomon added. 

Still, people may continue to take fire and scissors to their own purchases to express their moral indignation. Over the years, it's become a part of the cycle of corporate outrage. In October, a man filmed himself burning his Yeezy shoe collection in a stand against rapper Kanye West's antisemitic remarks. And earlier in the year, Russian influencers butchered their Chanel purses to protest the company's decision to stop selling Chanel goods in Russia.

Those standing against social equality have even taken up this form of protest. In 2018, people burned their Nike apparel after the company released an ad featuring Colin Kaepernick.

Advertisement

There is, of course, a cynical side to all this, too, as some use these corporate controversies to flog their own profiles. On Friday, a press release was sent out on behalf of Brazilian microinfluencer Luana Sandien announcing that she'd destroyed a Balenciaga dress she'd planned on wearing to an upcoming awards show. 

Attached were several videos and images of Sandien taking scissors to her black gown and then tearing the rest apart with her bare hands.

What makes this protest particularly hollow is that it's a self-selecting group of consumers who can even participate. Most of us can't afford to purchase Balenciaga, let alone destroy it. We can't hit them where it really hurts: their wallets.

Solomon empathizes with those who care deeply about protecting children. But, he says, Balenciaga is a brand that historically flirted between edgy and over the line. Instead, he says, the target should be on institutions that enable the sexualization and exploitation of children, not just one company.

Advertisement

"People want to stand for something, but fashion is full of contradictions," he said. 

"People are right to be upset with the ads, but we allow pedophilia and the hypersexualization of children on a global scale. It exists in society on a micro level and macro level, from Hollywood to people's homes. Ultimately Balenciaga is not the only one. And we're not doing anything productive to change things."

 

Digital Culture Influencers TikTok
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account