Unhappy with the luxury brand’s no longer being able to buy bags due to the sanctions, influencers sent out a false report stamped “Le Figaro”, leading them to believe that stores had deteriorated.
Since posting on social media testimony of a Russian woman who assures her that because of her nationality she could not buy a Chanel handbag in a shop in Dubai, other wealthy fellow citizens, followed by thousands of subscribers, share videos to protest against this “discrimination”† You can see they are going after the French luxury brand by cutting their handbags†
But since Wednesday, another video has been shared by some of these influencers, such as Victoria Bonya, followed by more than 9 million people. She shares a video with the logo of “Figaro Live”, the video format of the figaro. In what appears to be a report from the French daily newspaper, several text banners state that: “Stickers with the image of Hitler appeared on all buildings of Chanel’s offices and boutiques in Paris on Sunday. Instead of a face, the Nazi leader has the Chanel logo. This is likely an allusion to the recent scandal involving Chanel’s Russian clients. Chanel recently refused to sell clothes to Russian women in its boutiques in Dubai and Paris because of the sanctions. Russian officials and journalists called the refusal to sell clothing based on ethnicity an expression of xenophobia. Between 1942 and 1943, Chanel was the mistress of the German spy Gunther von Dinklage. In 2015, we discovered records showing that Chanel was an informant for the Nazis.
The photos showing the stickers of Hitler’s face with the brand logo also appear in this tweet from a Moscow journalist, evoking the same motivations. Coco Chanel’s Nazi Past has been the subject of numerous press articles because of her romantic affair with a Nazi diplomat during World War II.
Chanel’s stores in Paris are tagged with stickers of Hitler’s image and the brand’s logo.
Chanel recently refused to sell to Russians in Dubai unless they signed waivers not to bring items to Russia
Stickers are a nod to Coco Chanel’s alleged Nazi collaboration during WWII pic.twitter.com/i6M4hsb9Cq
—Danny Armstrong (@DannyWarmstrong) Apr 7, 2022
On Twitter, Le Figaro denied being behind the video shared by the Russian influencer and denounces “a deceptive publication, designed with photomontages, which scandalously distracts our graphic charter”.
You’re right, @Le Figaro never posted this video. It is a misleading publication, designed with photomontages, which infuriates our graphic charter in an outrageous way. Le Figaro strongly denounces this process. https://t.co/fBjqjedF42
—Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) Apr 7, 2022
Contacted by CheckNews, luxury brand Chanel also claims that images of its stores’ facades are covered in stickers “come from photo montages” and that the “stores were not tagged. It is clearly a fake news. We strongly condemn these scandalous images conveyed on social networks, which also usurp the identity of a media [le Figaro, ndlr]† CheckNews contacted employees at two neighboring Chanel stores who also claim not to have seen graffiti.
The brand had previously justified the ban on the sale of its products to Russian customers, who could travel to their country of origin by explaining that “The most recent EU and Swiss sanctions laws 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”. We have rolled out a process to ask customers whose primary residence is unknown to us to confirm that the items they purchase will not be used in Russia.”