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Wealthy Moscow socialites fleeing the war and sanctions to shop in Dubai are outraged that Chanel has refused to sell them their favourite accessories.
The luxury brand pulled out of Russia in protest at Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine, but the rich-set did not foresee restrictions on their regular forays abroad.
As Ukrainians and Russians are dying in their thousands in the war, they are whining about being barred from their favourite label.
Influencer Yana Rudkoskaya (pictured), 47, a music show producer, said: ‘This is a shock for a woman who’s been buying Chanel and Chanel Haute Couture for more than 20 years’
Singer and leading TV fashion show presenter Anna Kalashnikova (pictured), 37, was also outraged after she was barred by Chanel from buying earrings and a bag in Dubai
Russian interior designer and influencer Liza Litvin told how she was refused a Chanel bag in a top Dubai mall.
‘I went to a Chanel boutique in the Mall of the Emirates,’ she posted in fury.
‘They didn’t sell me the bag because (attention!) I am from Russia!!!’
She told how Chanel ‘has a new order that they only sell after I sign a piece of paper saying that I won’t wear this bag in Russia’.
She exploded: ‘What?!’
Litvin told how ‘they asked for my ID details and I gave my Russian phone number.
‘Next, the manager said that starting from today they were selling to Russians only if they sign an agreement not to wear their items in Russia.’
Kalashnikova announced she would in future boycott Chanel. She said: ‘I remembered Coco Chanel was not only mistress of a Nazi officer, but an agent of German intelligence’
Several other Russian women complained that they had suffered similar ignominy in Paris, while a man was blocked in Italy.
Singer and leading TV fashion show presenter Anna Kalashnikova, 37, was also outraged after she was barred by Chanel from buying earrings and a bag in Dubai .
She explained how a manager at the store told her: ‘We know you are a Russian celebrity.
‘We know you’ll be taking purchases to Russia, so we can’t sell our brand’s items.’
The singer and presenter added: ‘This action of her brand really makes me remember her biography. It’s so low to support fascism and Russophobia’
She posted: ‘”Oops”, I thought. Next I remembered Coco Chanel was not only mistress of a Nazi officer, but an agent of German intelligence.
‘So this action of her brand really makes me remember her biography. It’s so low to support fascism and Russophobia.’
She announced she would in future boycott Chanel.
Influencer Yana Rudkoskaya, 47, a Moscow-based music show producer, wife of Olympic figure skating champion Alexander Plyushenko, is likewise horrified but does not blame Putin for being deprived of her favourite brand.
‘This is a shock for a woman who’s been buying Chanel and Chanel Haute Couture for more than 20 years, and who sat at its shows in the front row,’ she said.
Russian interior designer and influencer Liza Litvin told how she was refused a Chanel bag in a top Dubai mall
‘Shock and shock.’
She had spent more than one million euro at Chanel over the years so found the ban ‘somewhat humiliating’.
Snezhanna Georgieva, 46, wife of billionaire Artem Zuev, owner of a winery in Crimea, indicated that there were ways to pull strings and get round the ban.
‘I will love it when these brands are back,’ she said.
‘But we know some boutiques that are still open when a regular customer calls them.’
Moscow foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Chanel of joining ‘the Russophobic campaign to “cancel Russia”.’
She, too, stressed that ‘during the Second World War, Coco Chanel herself was a collaborator and agent of the Third Reich’.
Russia was in a campaign against fascism in Ukraine, she claimed.
Snezhanna Georgieva (pictured), 46, wife of billionaire Artem Zuev, owner of a winery in Crimea, indicated that there were ways to pull strings and get round the ban
‘The Chanel house can return to normal and, as its creator, support Nazism. But now everyone will know about it.’
Chanel’s French HQ confirmed the new policy, and said it was forced to apply this because of EU and Swiss sanctions on luxury items.
The latest sanctions restrictions of the European Union and Switzerland 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’, said a statement.
Georgieva said: ‘But we know some boutiques that are still open when a regular customer calls them’
So customers were asked ‘to confirm that the products they purchase will not be used in Russia’.
The company said: ‘We understand that these measures, aimed at complying with the requirements of the law, may create certain inconveniences for some customers.
‘We are currently working to improve the procedure and apologise for any related misunderstandings and inconveniences.’
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