‘Russophobia’: Why Russian influencers are cutting up their Chanel bags

When Marina Ermoshkina, a Russian TV presenter, learned that employees at a Chanel store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had refused to sell a high-end bag to a Russian customer, after asking her to sign papers attesting that she would not wear the bag in Russia, she reacted in shock.

Ermoshkina, 28, bought a pair of gardening scissors, took a video of herself as she cut her Chanel bag in half and posted it to Instagram.

“This is Russophobia,” she said in a phone call from Moscow. “This is the purest form of discrimination.”

Hundreds of thousands of people saw her video, which was also broadcast on Russian television. Soon afterward, Victoria Bonya, a Russian social media influencer with 9.3 million Instagram followers, followed suit, taking a pair of scissors to a Chanel bag that sells for thousands of dollars.

“If Chanel house does not respect the clients, why do we have to respect Chanel house?” she said as she butchered her bag from the iconic French brand on video.

Chanel, like many international companies, suspended operations in Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition to temporarily closing stores and suspending deliveries in Russia, Chanel also began asking customers in its global stores to attest that the items they were purchasing would not be used in Russia.

In a statement, the company said that it was attempting to comply with European Union and Swiss sanctions that prohibit the “sale, supply, transfer or export, directly or indirectly, of luxury goods to any natural or legal person, entity or body in Russia or for use in Russia.” The prohibition, the company said, applies to luxury goods whose value exceeds €300 ($438) per item, which applies to most of Chanel’s products.

This angered Ermoshkina, who said that while withdrawing from Russia was the company’s choice, its policy against customers bringing items into the country is discriminatory and humiliating.