Wealthy Russian socialites fleeing the war to shop in Dubai are outraged that Chanel has refused to sell them their favourite accessories.
With sanctions being imposed on Moscow, the luxury brand pulled out of Russia in protest at Vladimir Putin ’s invasion of Ukraine.
As Ukrainians and Russians are dying in their thousands in the war, affluent socialites are disgruntled about being barred from their favourite label.
Russian interior designer and influencer Liza Litvin took to social media to describe 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 claimed 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".
“They asked for my ID details and I gave my Russian phone number," she said.
“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.”
Several other wealthy Russian women have also complained that they had suffered similar hardships.
Singer and leading TV fashion show presenter Anna Kalashnikova, 37, was 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.”
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 be boycotting Chanel.
Influencer Yana Rudkoskaya, 47, a Moscow-based music show producer and wife of Olympic figure skating champion Evgeni Plushenko, 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.
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 who owns 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 said 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.
“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," the company said in a statement.
Customers were asked ”to confirm that the products they purchase will not be used in Russia”.
Chanel 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.”
