Balenciaga Quits Twitter — Will Other Fashion Brands Follow?
Balenciaga has become the first major brand to leave Twitter. The move comes as unrest surges on the platform recently acquired by Elon Musk.
As of Monday, the fashion brand’s Twitter account was inactive. The news was first reported by The Business of Fashion, which noted that Balenciaga’s account had around 950,000 followers before leaving the platform.
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Screenshot from Twitter
Balenciaga and parent company Kering did not immediately return FN’s request for comment.
While the move marks the first major brand departure from the platform, other major accounts and individuals have announced similar decisions in recent days. Playbill announced its exit from Twitter on Friday. Gigi Hadid, Shonda Rhimes, Whoopi Goldberg and more celebrities also said they were done with Twitter and companies such as Dyson and Mazda have paused advertising on the platform. Many have said their decision to distance from the company came from a desire to distance from hate speech and misinformation that has risen on the platform since Musk took over.
Since acquiring Twitter in late October, Musk unleashed a series of tweaks to the platform and company, including laying off 50% of employees and rolling out an option for users to pay for verification via Twitter Blue. The latter of these changes was suspended shortly after it ignited a series of blue check-marked imposter accounts impersonating brands and spreading misinformation.
While Balenciaga did not offer a reason for its exit, the brand has recently become known for taking public stances against hate speech. In October, Balenciaga broke off its relationship with Kanye West following a series of controversial and anti-semitic statements from the rapper turned fashion designer.
Priot to that, Ye had opened at the brand’s summer 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week and had also partnered with Balenciaga artistic director Demna Gvasalia for the “Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga” collection, which launched in February, coinciding with Ye’s “Donda 2” album launch performance.
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