Several women have shared this action in a video on Instagram. “Goodbye,” said Russian model Victoria Bonya, after claiming Chanel “doesn’t respect his customers.” She looks angrily at the camera, waving a pair of scissors in the air. Then she cuts the expensive handbag in half. “Never seen a brand treat their customers so disrespectfully,” the caption reads.
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‘Russophobic campaign’
Chanel – like many other companies – closed all stores in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. But the Chanel lovers did not expect that the French fashion house would prohibit them from buying the bags all over the world. “The latest restrictions imposed by the European Union prohibit the sale, directly or indirectly, of luxury products to any person or company in the Russian Federation, or for use in the Russian Federation,” it said in a press release.
And the rich Russians don’t like that; one after another shares a video of them expressing their frustration. Russian fashion designer and influencer Liza Litvin lamented in a video that she was refused entry at a Chanel store in Dubai, East2West reports. “They asked for my ID and I gave my Russian phone number,” she explains. “Then the manager said that from today on they will only sell to Russians if they sign an agreement stating that they will not carry their items in Russia.”
Another woman, Russian TV host and actor Marina Ermoshkina, uses garden shears to cut her dark gray handbag. “I’m against Russophobia, I’m against a brand that supports Russophobia,” Ermoshkina said.
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‘Cancel’
Russian DJ Katya Guseva follows Ermoshkina’s lead and also destroys her beloved branded bag. “I’ve always dreamed of having my own Chanel bag, and last year I finally had one,” she wrote. “But after learning about the brand’s policy towards Russians, I decided to destroy these bags until the situation changes.”
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, “Chanel is participating in a Russophobic campaign to cancel Russia,” spokesman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.