Russian influencers call Chanel founder 'mistress of a Nazi' after brand bars them from purchasing items
A wave of Russian influencers and socialites have bemoaned being barred from buying Chanel items and told that it was the brand's policy not to sell to customers who wanted to bring their purchases back to Russia.
Last month, it emerged that shoppers were rushing to luxury stores in Russia to make as many purchases as possible while they still could. Just days later, top luxury brands such as Burberry, Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Kering announced they were temporarily closing their stores in the country. Russian socialite Anna Kalashnikova on Sunday, April 3, accused Chanel of "Russophobia" -- saying she wasn't allowed to buy a pair of earrings and a bag at a store outlet in Dubai.
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"Since I often come to Dubai for Fashion Week, Chanel managers recognized me, approached me, and said: 'We know that you are a celebrity in Russia, we know that you will take your purchases there, so we cannot sell you our brand items,'" Kalashnikova wrote on Instagram, adding that the experience reminded her of how "Coco Chanel was not only mistress of a Nazi" but also a fascist agent. "The actions of her legacy, her brand make you think about the biography of Coco Chanel. Supporting fascism and Russophobia is so low," Kalashnikova added.
Russia's late-February invasion of Ukraine led to harsh economic sanctions by Western governments, including the European Union. According to the Daily Mail, Chanel issued a statement saying that EU and Swiss sanctions prohibited "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."
Influencer Yana Rudkovskaya, 47, a Moscow-based music show producer and wife of Olympic figure skating champion Alexander Plushenko was also stunned after being blocked by the luxury 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.
Liza Litvin, a Russian interior designer and influencer, also took to Instagram to detail a similar experience of not being able to buy Chanel items in Dubai. Litvin said she had to sign a document at a Chanel outlet declaring that she wouldn't wear a bag she purchased on Russian soil. "I went to a Chanel boutique in the Mall of the Emirates. They didn't sell me the bag because (attention!) I am from Russia!" Litvin wrote, as quoted by Fortune magazine.
On the other hand, Ukrainian socialite Snezhanna Georgieva claimed that some Russian shoppers had managed to find back doors to get their hands on some Chanel items. "I will love it when these brands are back," Georgieva said, per the New York Post. "But we know some boutiques that are still open when a regular customer calls them."
Maria Zakharova, a representative from the Russian Foreign Ministry, rebutted Chanel's stance in a statement on the pro-Kremlin newspaper Pravda. She accused the luxury brand of embracing Nazism by not selling its products to Russian customers. "We just opened a closet, from which 80-year-old skeletons that had not yet decayed had fallen out," Zakharova said in the statement Friday, April 1. "We are a very patient and forgiving country. We have forgiven everyone for everything, we have turned the page and made way for the future. However, if this way is a ring road, we will break this vicious circle," she added.
