The luxury brand began their own protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
After pulling out of Russia last month, Chanel is now also unavailable to many Russians living overseas.
A group of Russian socialites have been banned from purchasing the luxury goods in stores around the world.
One influencer Liza Litvin was denied a Chanel bag purchase in a Dubai mall, taking to social media to express her fury.
She posted that the company will only sell stock to Russian customers after they agree that they won’t wear the product in Russia.
Chanel’s corporate office in France confirmed that the new policy has been imposed in response to the European Union’s sanctions on luxury items.
These regulations “prohibit the sale, directly or indirectly, of luxury items to any natural, legal person or entity in the Russian Federation or for use in the Russian Federation”.
Chanel says they “understand that these measures may create certain inconveniences for some customers” but assured that they are working on improving the procedure.
Many have taken to social media to condemn Chanel and to boycott them posting videos of themselves destroying bags.
‼️Victoria Bonya, Russian TV presenter, model and blogger (9 million followers on Instagram) also cut a @Chanel bag, protesting against the #Russophobia of the French brand, which forbade Russians to buy #Chanel pic.twitter.com/wUJtaJzqpX
— Alexander Bunin (@abunin) April 5, 2022
Some of these celebrities have said that if Chanel doesn’t respect consumers then they can’t expect consumers to respect the brand.
One Russian singer and TV fashion show presenter Anna Kalashnikova was also barred from purchasing earrings and a bag at a Chanel store in Dubai.
But the celebrity pushed back, drawing a double standard as “Coco Chanel was not only a mistress of a Nazi officer but an agent of German intelligence”.
Whether Coco Chanel’s history as a member of the Third Reich will change anything remains unclear for the moment Russians living abroad remain shocked about the turn of events.
