A few months ago, the popular fashion brand Balenciaga faced justified backlash over ad campaigns that normalized child sexual abuse. These ads included pictures of children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage harnesses, as well as strategically placed court documents referencing child sexual abuse material (the more apt term for “child pornography”).
The public hurried to condemn Balenciaga for these horrific ad campaigns, eventually sparking an apology from the creative director.
Unfortunately, only a few months after the Balenciaga scandal, mainstream fashion is once again opening its arms to welcome sexual abuse and exploitation.
Last week was New York Fashion Week (NYFW), a major bi-annual fashion event in which designers from around the world can showcase their new collections. Fashion designer Luis De Javier made his NYFW debut with a collaboration with Pornhub.
While De Javier’s collaboration with Pornhub has been called “a runway show that sexually liberated in style,” the truth is that it normalized and glamorized a company that has been complicit in mass sexual crime.
@endexploitation Exploitation has no place in mainstream fashion. There is no legit reason why Luis De Javier should partner with P*rnhub – which masquerades as a lawful business – during New York Fashion Week. Ask Luis De Javier & NYFW to apologize for their collaboration with P*rnhub. Link in bio. #greenscreen #endexploitation #newyorkfashionweek #nyfw #nyfw2023 #luisdejavier ♬ Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs – Skittlegirl Sound
Pornhub Hosted and Monetized Child Sexual Abuse, Sex Trafficking, Rape, and More
For over a decade, Pornhub has been confronted by numerous survivors who have come forward about their sex trafficking, child sexual abuse, or rape being filmed and then uploaded, monetized, promoted, made downloadable, and shared countless times on the site. Pornhub has profited from the mass distribution of these filmed crimes, as well as from non-consensually recorded and non-consensually uploaded explicit videos (ie. image-based sexual abuse).
In recent years, Pornhub has rightly come under fire for this horrific exploitation. For example, a December 2020 New York Times exposé, “The Children of Pornhub,” revealed the rampant sexual abuse of minors on Pornhub. An online petition has garnered over 2 million signatures to shut down Pornhub for aiding sex trafficking. 6 lawsuits have been filed in the U.S., and more in Canada, on behalf of sexually abused children and trafficking victims whom Pornhub exploited.
There is nothing glamorous or fashionable about child sexual abuse, rape, and sex trafficking. Pornhub has no place in mainstream fashion shows. @nyfw Click To TweetPornhub Has Been Widely Shunned by Mainstream Entities . . . Why Are They Still Promoted at New York Fashion Week?
In response to the exposure of abuse on Pornhub, mainstream corporations and entities have been rightly refusing to do business with them. All major credit card companies and payment processors–including Visa, Mastercard, Discover Credit Cards, and Paypal–have ceased facilitating payments for Pornhub. Entities that facilitated the distribution of Pornhub’s content, such as Roku, Comcast, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, also cut ties. And mainstream corporations that ran ads on Pornhub, such as Kraft-Heinz and Unilever also pulled their business.
Given the evidence of Pornhub’s crimes, and the way mainstream entities have justifiably shunned their partnerships with Pornhub, it is shocking to see that NYFW and Luis De Javier were still happy to collaborate with this Mega Exploiter.
There is nothing glamorous or fashionable about child sexual abuse, rape, and sex trafficking. Pornhub has no place in mainstream fashion shows.
ACTION: Call on NYFW And Luis De Javier to Apologize and Cancel Future Collaborations with Pornhub!
By partnering with Pornhub, De Javier is aligning his brand with Pornhub’s egregious exploitation of children, women, and men. And New York Fashion week is legitimizing it all.
Further, De Javier is currently set to be the official designer for Pornhub’s upcoming awards.
This is unacceptable.
NYFW and Luis De Javier must publicly apologize for their misguided collaboration with Pornhub, and De Javier must cancel all plans for future collaborations.
Please take 30 seconds to contact NYFW and Luis de Javier using the action form below!
