In early March, French brand Chanel announced that it was suspending its operations in Russia, canceling product deliveries and closing its online store. The brand’s 17 boutiques and retail stores in large shopping centers with 371 employees will not be operating in the country.
A month after its closure, information appeared on social networks that the Russians refused to sell Chanel products abroad. Laura Dzhugeliya, author of the Telegram channel “Laura D’s Diary”, was the first to report this:
“A friend of mine writes at the Chanel store in Dubai that when they found out she was Russian, they weren’t selling anything. First they asked for a phone number, they heard it starts with +7, they said they wouldn’t take me aside and sell me. According to Jugelia, the refusal to buy is related to the general policy of the Chanel brand with regard to Russians and does not depend on the location of the boutique.
lisalitvin/Instagram (The company that owns Meta is recognized as an extremist organization)(The company that owns Meta is recognized as an extremist organization)
A similar story was shared by Russian woman Liza Litvin. The girl said that in a boutique in Dubai, before paying for the purchase, she was asked to sign a paper that she would not wear Chanel products in Russia. The situation was commented by the administrators of the Antigloss Telegram channel. “And here is the situation: a friend in Milan bought a Chanel and asked to bring it to the hotel, they took the money, they did not bring it to the hotel because at this stage they realized that it was Russian. That’s what the hotel concierge was told. Well, after the Russians were not given tax exemptions, ”the authors of the channel write.
Chanel representatives were quick to explain that their refusal to sell their products to the Russians was linked to sanctions the company had to comply with. However, the network has already managed to inflame a scandal. The Russians started a flash mob on social networks, which openly cut French brand bags.
The first was a PR agent and TV presenter Marina Ermoshkina. In a video posted on Instagram (the owner of Meta is known as an extremist organization), she said, “If you have to sell your homeland for Chanel, then I don’t need such a Chanel” and cut it off with her accessory. pruners. DJ Katya Guseva and presenter Victoria Bonya later participated in the bag destruction show, and Olga Buzova asked Chanel to return the money for the purchased items. Some Russian stars refused to take part in this “action”. For example, Yana Rudkovskaya and Ksenia Borodina. Second, he suggested “not providing Chanel with its own funds.”
Today, April 8, news broke that the Chanel boutique on Stoleshnikov Lane is covered with Hitler’s stickers. Previously, images of the leader of Nazi Germany appeared on the facades of French brand stores in Paris. It is worth noting that the Chanel boutique in Paris told RIA Novosti that Russians can freely buy bags from the fashion house if payment is made by bank card.
telegraph channel “Basis”
Indonesia – Louis Vuitton
Two years ago, demonstrators called for a boycott of French products in the protest called Aksi 211 in Indonesia. Thus, they tried to make it clear that they would not accept goods from a country whose leader allowed Islamophobic statements.
Most notable of the protests was a flash crowd of Muslim women in Jakarta. They chewed on Louis Vuitton bags to protest Emmanuel Macron’s statements about Islam. Famous Indonesian actor Ari Untung has promised his 2.5 million Instagram followers that he will stop wearing French luxury brands like Celine, Saint Laurent, Chanel and Louis Vuitton by throwing them on the floor.
Mark Lennihan/AP
“Since their country insulted my prophet in the month of his birth, these items of French brands are not worthy of a place in the wardrobe of an owner who truly loves his prophet. We will not wear these things no matter the price, it does not suit the Prophet at all. It is very insulting,” Ari wrote.
Relations between the Muslim world and France escalated two years ago after a Pakistani man was attacked near the editorial office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which publishes cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Emmanuel Macron announced the fight against radical Islamism. A few weeks later, a Russian-born refugee told the students that Hz. He killed a teacher accused of showing cartoons of Muhammad.
“Islamists were killed because they wanted to take our future. They will never have it,” Macron said after that. Soon after, the French government was presented with an “anti-separatist bill” that the president wanted it to support. Later, the name of the initiative was changed to “Republican Values Reinforcement Act”.
Meanwhile, Indonesian President Joko Widodo criticized Macron. “Indonesia strongly condemns the French President’s statement insulting the religion of Islam. This has hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also dissatisfied with the French president’s statements. He also called on the people of the country to boycott goods from France, but no one in the country was in a hurry to destroy the products of luxury brands. Similar calls were made in Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Egypt and other Muslim countries.
Chinese cancel Dolce & Gabbana, Dior and Burberry
China is the largest consumer of luxury goods. But here in the past few years, residents of the country have been offended by Western fashion houses several times.
It all started with a big scandal in November 2018. At that time, a special Dolce & Gabbana show would be held in Shanghai for the Chinese market. Before the show, the Italian brand launched the #DGLovesChina social media campaign. It angered Chinese users. They viewed ironic videos about “friendship of peoples” as a mockery of their culture and the propagation of offensive stereotypes.
After Stefano Gabbana’s racist messages were leaked to the network, the designer called the employees of the brand’s China office “stupid” and stated that he would never personally remove the videos from social networks. The fashion designer immediately claimed that her Instagram account was hacked, but that didn’t help. The Chinese boycotted Dolce & Gabbana and the show had to be canceled hours before it started. The scandal has not subsided so far – the Chinese stars wearing the brand’s clothes are subject to harsh criticism.
Italian fashion designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce apologize to the Chinese public, 23 November 2018
Dolce and Gabbana/YouTube
In 2019, three brands had to apologize to the Chinese at the same time. Versace has released a T-shirt with a list of cities and countries on the back. In it, Hong Kong and Macau were designated not as regions of China, but as separate states. Similar things were later published by Coach and Givenchy. Both brands neglected to indicate that Hong Kong is part of China and designated Taiwan as an independent country. All brands were quick to say that they admit their mistakes, are sorry and stick to the One China principle.
In the wake of Chinese nationalism, they decided last year to photograph a slit-eyed model taken by photographer Chen Mang for the 2012 Dior exhibition. The brand was accused of using the stereotype of the Asian look and saw it as an insult to China. The photographer had to apologize for his “immaturity and ignorance” and asked the brand to ensure “respect for the feelings of the Chinese people”. Gucci likewise had to apologize for the very narrow cut of the model’s eyes. Meanwhile, Chinese brands are also subject to the same criticism in the country.
dior
In 2021, Burberry also suffered a disrepute. The brand flatly refused to use Xinjiang cotton that may have been produced by Uyghurs under forced labor conditions. In response, British brand ambassador and Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu ended the collaboration, describing Burberry’s position on the matter as “ambiguous”. And the brand’s signature plaid pattern was lost on the costumes of the characters in the video game Honor of Kings by the Chinese company Tencent.
The brand managed to win the admiration of the Chinese by announcing that it will donate 1.5 million yuan and 500,000 yuan worth of humanitarian aid to the rescue efforts in Henan province, where the flood occurred.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.