Fashion Brand Auctions Out Stray Kids’ Used Clothing, Publicly Apologizes After Severe Backlash

A brand that worked with Stray Kids is now under fire for auctioning out their clothes.

SLBS is a fashion and accessories company that has released multiple products in collaboration with Stray Kids.

Last month, they announced that they will be holding fanmeeting with the group on April 9. The live event was held in Japan, with fans coming from all over the world to meet their biases.

The event, however, was marred by the actions of SLBS. Right after the members left, representatives of the company brought out items that they had used while filming the promotional materials and began an unannounced auction.

Phone cases, for instance, were on sale for ¥50,000 JPY (around $330 USD) to ¥100,000 JPY (around $650 USD).

The fans in the venue were reluctant to buy them. Based on experiences posted by Japanese STAYs, only one person in the venue was eager to purchase from SLBS.

This is a report by a participant of the SLBS event on the situation at that time.

① https://t.co/QLNsxkPIna pic.twitter.com/U1s2LkIttu

— クイニーアマン伯爵 (@omurice__tabeyo) April 11, 2024

They became even more perplexed when a rack of clothes were brought on stage. These were jackets, sweaters, tank tops, and pants that the members were wearing in the teasers for the fanmeeting.

They were likely not laundered as one fan noted that they still smelled perfume on the clothes.

Once these experiences were posted online, STAYs were understandably infuriated. They called the auction a “violation of privacy and betrayal of trust.”

Whoever thought auctioning Stray Kids used clothes to fans was a good idea needs to be fucking fired
byu/JewelerMountain260 inkpopthoughts

Going behind Stray Kids' back to auction off clothes that were worn by them, to the point of advertising the fact that they still smell like them without their knowledge feels like such a violation of privacy and betrayal of trust.

— ( ★ ) (@0325home) April 9, 2024

They criticized SLBS for pulling this stunt, saying it was an opportunistic and stalkerish thing to do. They even compared it to the “creepy” behavior that sasaengs do to idols as well.

Comment
byu/JewelerMountain260 from discussion
inkpopthoughts

STAYs pointed out that the brand did the auction with full knowledge, bringing out the items only after the JYP Entertainment staff and artists had left.

they waited until the staff left, they didn’t get permission from ANYONE.
this was an auction to make money off the outfits stray kids wore on the same day, with their perfume still on and even going as far to sell their tank tops and pants? the fuck @slbsstudio ???? https://t.co/lKp21qlPN7

— • ﻌ • (@youtifulyou) April 9, 2024

can we talk abt this ?? wdym they did an auction after skz left with items & clothes they wore for slbs, their perfume were still there so not washed (wtf) neither jype nor skz were aware of this or gave their consent & the organizers asked for stays to be silent abt this ??? WTF https://t.co/isiwyYeNn8

— 🌑 𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢 ☾⋆｡ ๋࣭ ⭑˚ (@namchanhyung) April 9, 2024

As the auction was not even held for charity, they were in extra hot waters for profiting off the clothes worn by the members.

i was really hoping the auction was put on without slbs' knowledge, but to know it was held by slbs, without the consent of jype and most importantly, the skz members, is sickening. the profits helped no one but slbs themselves and i hope this contract is broken bc of this

— CEE Bang ! 🥐ྀི ∞⁸ 樂★ (@l0uisknow) April 11, 2024

SLBS posted an apology two days later on their official social media accounts. They admitted to their wrong doings by saying that they held a “private auction…with the garments that the artist had worn during the campaign shoot without prior consent from JYP Entertainment.”

Today we are here in response to the unfortunate incident that had occurred on April 9th. We sincerely apologize for the incident and to everyone that had been deeply hurt and disturbed by it, including the attendees, fans who had learned about what had happened through social media, and most importantly, the artist, agency, and all interested parties. We would like to use this opportunity to explain circumstances of it and the subsequent actions to be taken.

After the Fan Signing Event in Japan was completed, a private auction was held with the garments that the artist had worn during the campaign shoot without a prior consent of JYP Entertainment Co., Ltd. Rather than having the mentioned garments reserved at SLBS, we thought of having them available for the fans who would find them more meaningful and understand the worth and organized it as a separate event in a form of a surprise. However, we deeply regret the lack of sensitivity in such action and apologize once again for all the troubles and concerns caused.

— SLBS

Hello, this is from SLBS Korea HQ.

Today we are here in response to the unfortunate incident that had occurred on April 9th. We sincerely apologize for the incident and to everyone that had been deeply hurt and disturbed by it, including the attendees, fans who had learned about…

— SLBS (@slbsstudio) April 10, 2024

They will be contacting the fans who bought the clothing of the members, reimbursing them and returning each item back to the company. SLBS promised to be more careful in their future events and to work “with closer cooperation with JYP Entertainment.”

The garments that had been sold during this auction will be collected again, and any profit raised will be returned to the buyers. We deeply apologize to the attendees of the event and for all the troubles caused after attending the event.

We fully acknowledge that under the title ‘Global Fan Event’ our Fan Signing Event should have been conducted more carefully with better attention to details and higher morals; however, this had failed unacceptably, and we understand that our words cannot make up for all the concerns and afflictions caused. To prevent any further distress, all our subsequent actions will be carried out more cautiously with closer cooperation with JYP Entertainment Co., LTD.

The progress of our subsequent actions will be openly shared as quickly and as transparent as possible. We will take this as an opportunity to reinforce our ethics and morals towards our collaborative works. Lastly, we sincerely apologize for the defamation caused to SLBS Japan local operator Inbound Platform Corp and all interested parties due to our shortcomings.

This official apology announcement will be posted and pinned on SLBS Instagram and X(twitter) for three days. We are deeply sorry once again.

— SLBS