Balenciaga creative-director is Ambassador for Zelensky's United24 fundraiser
The normalisation of Nazis by fashion moguls, astronauts and academics
The Creative Director of controversial Balenciaga fashion emporium is an Ambassador for United24 a fundraising platform recently established by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
An ad campaign run by the fashion house in November featured children holding teddy bears dressed in bondage costumes. The images taken by photographer Gabriele Galimberti included teddy bear handbags dressed in fishnet stockings and with bondage leather straps. A backlash ensued in which Balenciaga was accused of promoting child pornography and pedophilia.
“In one photo, court documentation can be seen on the desk where the Balenciaga bag is placed from the 2008 case titled United States vs. Williams. The controversial case ruled that the "pandering" of child pornography did not violate the First Amendment even if the person charged with such an offense did already possess said pornography to trade.”
Thousands of social media pundits said the gift campaign was “inappropriate” and normalised child sexualisation. An apology was issued by Demna Gvasalia, the Balenciaga Creative Director now Ambassador for the United24 fundraiser for Nazi militia backed by NATO.
The potential Balenciaga Nazi-links go further back than collaboration with the ultra-nationalist organised crime cartel in Ukraine. Balenciaga was founded in 1919 by renowned Spanish fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga in San Sebastian, Spain. The headquarters are now located in Paris.
During WW2 Balenciaga was able to keep operating during the Vichy-facilitated Nazi occupation while many other fashion houses were forced to shut down and cease trading. It is rumoured that Balenciaga had close ties to Spain’s General Francisco Franco who was one of Hitler’s allies in Europe. Balenciaga has always maintained that he had no connections to Hitler and that he actually refused Hitler’s request to re-locate to Berlin.
Gvasalia is Ambassador for the Rebuild Ukraine section of the fund and has already designed a special Balenciaga T-shirt to raise funds for Zelensky’s campaign. Zelensky has personally thanked Gvasalia - “Thank you for your support, it is very valuable,” said Zelenskyy. “It’s crucial that we keep the world’s focus on Ukraine to help rebuild our country.”
The T-shirt graphics include a “Glory to Ukraine” print, the Ukrainian flag, the Ukrainian coat of arms, and a QR code that allows donating via UNITED24. The garment will retail at a mere 200 euros. Allegedly all proceeds will go to ‘rebuilding Ukraine’.
Ambassador line-up
According to the United24 website:
Astronaut Scott Kelly, who came to Ukraine, saw with his own eyes how the doctors of the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital work in the dark. In addition, Kelly visited Bucha and Irpin, met with Ukrainian pilots, and starred in a video supporting Ukrainian doctors. Finally, with Andriy Shevchenko and Oleksandr Usyk, he walked through darkened Kyiv and called on the whole world to join the fundraiser for generators.
Famous Canadian philanthropist, James Temerty, transferred $1,000,000. Liev Schreiber collected $100,000 in just two days. Elina Svitolina dedicated her charity evening to the support of hospitals, during which $57,000 was raised. Oleksandr Usyk personally donated 50,000 dollars for generators.
The assembly of the world's first Fleet of naval drones also gained international support. Its main task is to protect Ukrainian cities from cruise missiles launched by Russian ships. Donors from 93 countries responded to the call. Volunteers, the IT community, owners of family businesses, private donors, corporations, and the people of Lithuania, presented Ukraine with three naval drones given the symbolic names ‘Peace Dec,’ ‘Peace Da,’ and ‘Peace Duke.’ Proceeds from the sale of the last batch of "Azovstal. A Symbol of Perseverance' will also be aimed at forming the Fleet.
Prominent historian and UNITED24 ambassador Timothy Snyder opened a special fundraiser for the 'Shahed Hunter‘. This is an anti-drone system that will help detect and intercept enemy UAVs. So far, Snyder has raised more than $500,000
Timothy Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University and author of ‘Bloodlands’ which ironically examined the devastating consequences of Hitler and Stalin’s rule.
In October Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, held the prestigious Stanford University to account for hosting an event and inviting members of the Nazi Azov Battalion. The university hosted several representatives of the neo-Nazi paramilitary organisation including two POWs released by Russia in a prisoner swap in October.
Representatives of Azov even spoke in front of the audience at the event Stanford University organized, where Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Russia and a vocal critic of Moscow, was also present.
The prestigious academic institutional support for the NATO-backed Nazi infested regime and military in Ukraine is part of the process of demonising the enemy, in this case Russia, and glorifying the ultra-nationalist fanatics and extremist proxies that are serving the US/UK allied cabal agenda. These tactics are best described by Belgian historian Anne Morelli in her ten-point-war-propaganda plan (the basic principles of war propaganda):
We don’t want war, we are only defending ourselves.
Our adversary is solely responsible for this war.
Our adversary’s leader is inherently evil and resembles the devil.
We are defending a noble cause, not our particular interests.
The enemy is purposefully committing atrocities; if we are making mistakes this happens without intention.
The enemy makes use of illegal weapons.
We suffer few losses, the enemy’s losses are considerable.
Recognized intellectuals and artists support our cause.
Our cause is sacred.
Whoever casts doubt on our propaganda helps the enemy and is a traitor.
These principles can be applied to every imperialist venture in recent history from Syria to Libya, Iraq, Yugoslavia etc.
According to the United24 website Zelensky has raised $ 237, 850, 771 in his probable bid to further launder money through private and public sector channels. I would almost guarantee that the buildings marked for reconstruction on the website will still be piles of rubble even after Zelensky has received millions in restoration funding.
A large sector for funding is the building of a fleet of naval drones and the purchase of the Shahed hunters, anti-drone systems to combat the Russian/Iranian drone warfare that has had devastating consequences for Ukrainian essential energy infrastructure and military sites. An interesting veiled threat is included in the promotional blurb for the Shahed hunter package - “Ukraine cannot export electricity to the EU, which supports the stability of the European energy system, unless they can lay their hands on the anti-drone systems.” says Zelensky.
The anti-drone project is Snyder’s baby for which he has already raised $ 500,000. To explain away his military/political involvement in a war that ostensibly the US is not fighting, he has said:
“I’m a historian and a scholar, and in the long run I want to be raising money to rebuild libraries, schools and universities. But right now, we have to do what is more urgent, which is to raise money to help Ukraine defend itself from murderous drones”
I am not sure how ethical it is for an academic to be raising money for a military defence system in a foreign country for a war that the US is allegedly not fighting. Perhaps Yale would like to comment?
As a historian will Snyder acknowledge the 2014 US-led violent regime change in Ukraine and empowerment of neo-Nazi factions, the massacre of anti-Maidan protestors in Odessa and Mariupol, the eight-year war against the people of Donbass, the horrific loss of civilian life, the torture, rape, forced detention, executions, mass graves and continued bombardment of civilian infrastructure, markets and schools in Donetsk. Even yesterday there were civilian casualties during a merciless bombing raid on Donetsk city centre? The answer is probably no.
***
I am looking forward to see Nazilensky holding a BDSM bear in a photo shoot :P...
It would be comical if we didn't know the sex trafficking from 404... Balenciaga style...
I wonder how are they paid for this campaign? In nature?
If Snyder cared so much about murderous drones, he would do well to look at the United States and its use of such murderous weapons of war.