Russian Instagram Models Cut Up Chanel Bags As Brand Restricts Sales In Country

Russian influencers have filmed themselves cutting up Chanel bags following the firm's ban on sales.

Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation' has now entered its sixth week. Amid the invasion of Ukraine and wide-ranging sanctions from across the world, the French luxury giant shut its stores in Russia.

Chanel then announced it would stop customers buying bags who intend to take them to Russia, in compliance with European Union sanctions banning the sale to Russia of luxury goods priced higher than €300 ($327, £250).

Model Victoria Bonya posted a short clip in English to her 9.3 million followers, saying: "If Chanel house does not respect their clients, why do we have to respect Chanel house?' before cutting her bag.

Marina Ermoshkina, a Russian TV presenter and actress, also cut her bag to show she's against 'Russophobia-supporting brands'.

In a video, she said: "Not a single item or brand is worth my love for my motherland and my self-respect... if owning Chanel means selling my motherland, then I don't need Chanel."

DJ Katya Guseva backed Ermoshkina, posting her own video and writing: "I always dreamed that a Chanel handbag would appear in my wardrobe and it happened last year.

"But after I learned about the brand's policy towards Russians, I decided to remove these bags from my daily life until the situation changes and support the challenge from Marina Ermoshkina!

"With this video, I do not call for the destruction of things of any brands, I just want to say that not a single bag, not a single thing is worth my love for my Motherland, and my respect for myself.

"Chanel is just an accessory. An accessory that for some reason decided that it had the right to humiliate people, my compatriots, decided to discriminate people on the basis of nationality, which I will not tolerate."

While these videos echo concerns over everyday Russians bearing the international brunt of Putin's invasion, they have also been criticised amid thousands of people dying in Ukraine.

In an earlier statement (as per BBC News), Chanel said it 'complies with all laws applicable to our operations and employees worldwide, including trade sanction laws'.

It added: "This is why we have rolled out a process to ask clients for whom we do not know the main residency to confirm that the items they are purchasing will not be used in Russia.

"We are currently working on improving this approach and we apologise for any misunderstanding this may have caused. Welcoming all our clients, regardless of where they come from, is a priority for Chanel."

UNILAD has contacted Chanel for comment.

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