A prominent Russian influencer has come under fire for purchasing a new Chanel handbag after participating in a high-profile socialite stunt to scissor her previous one in opposition to Western sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s war.
The anti-Chanel campaign started in April and was spearheaded by 42-year-old model Victoria Bonya of Monaco, who has 9 million followers on social media.
At the time she said in English: ‘I have to say if Chanel House does not respect its clients, [why] do we have to respect Chanel? Bye bye.’
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At her opulent residence, she was observed throwing the bag away.
The businesswoman who favours living in the West and admires Putin said she has “never seen any brand acting so disrespectfully toward its clients.”
However, after sharing images of herself in a car with a Chanel bag while on vacation in Dubai, she has since been charged with being “hypocritical.”
‘Bonya, where are you buying Chanel bags?’ She was asked.
Russian social media is flooded with criticism, with one commenter claiming that her shattered luggage “was revived.”
Another person said: “So pitiful. Disgusting.’
There was one more: “She must have bought a new bag right away.”
Due to Chanel’s closure in Moscow and other major cities, the majority of Russians are unable to purchase the brand, and even when travelling abroad, they are not supposed to be offered for sale to Putin’s residents.
Another said: ‘Is Chanel back?’
She was accused of ‘double standards’ and ‘hypocrisy’.
A report in Antiglyanets asked: ‘Did she glue it together?’
Ksenia Sobchak, the top female opposition politician in Russia and a former candidate for president, made the joke, “How to DIY a Chanel bag.”
Bonya was one of several well-off Russian women who lost it in April when their preferred brand forbade them from making additional purchases.
They only talk about their own fashion traumas brought on by Putin’s invasion, not the thousands of dead and wounded Ukrainians or Russian soldiers in the conflict that led to the sanctions.
In addition to leaving Russia, the French luxury retailer forbade sales to Vladimir Putin’s affluent countrymen while they were travelling for shopping abroad.
They argued that the decision to forbid them from purchasing Chanel reeked of “Russophobia.
TV host, public relations specialist, and actress Marina Ermoshkina, 28, expressed her fury to her 299,999 followers when she learned that Russian women are being required to sign a pledge in foreign Chanel stores promising not to wear or advertise the brand in Russia.
She ripped her accessories bag with heavy-duty scissors and declared, “Not a single thing or brand is worth my love for my nation and my self-respect.”
DJ Katya Guseva, 39, with 587,000 followers, said: ‘I am saying ‘No’ to Chanel.
‘I am against Russophobia and against segregation by nationality.
‘To show you I am serious, I will simply cut up this bag.
‘I don’t need it any more. Bye-bye, Chanel .’
Influencer Yana Rudkovskaya, 47, a producer of music shows in Moscow and the wife of Olympic figure skating champion Alexander Plyushenko, was appalled but did not blame Putin.
She considered the prohibition to be “quite humiliating” considering how much money she had spent at Chanel over the years.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, charged Chanel with supporting the “Russophobic effort to “cancel Russia.”
She emphasised that “Coco Chanel herself was a collaborator and agent of the Third Reich throughout the Second World War.”
She asserted that Russia was fighting fascism in Ukraine.
The sale of luxury goods to any natural, legal person or entity in the Russian Federation or for use in the Russian Federation is prohibited by the most recent sanctions restrictions of the European Union and Switzerland, according to a statement.
In order to “ensure that the things they purchase will not be used in Russia,” customers were asked.
The business acknowledged that some consumers may experience some inconveniences as a result of the efforts taken to comply with the law.
We apologise for any misunderstandings or issues that may have resulted from the procedure and are presently trying to make it better.
The sale of luxury goods to any natural, legal person or entity in the Russian Federation or for use in the Russian Federation is prohibited by the most recent sanctions restrictions of the European Union and Switzerland, according to a statement.
In order to “ensure that the things they purchase will not be used in Russia,” customers were asked.
The business acknowledged that some consumers may experience some inconveniences as a result of the efforts taken to comply with the law.
We apologise for any misunderstandings or issues that may have resulted from the procedure and are presently trying to make it better.
Who is Victoria Bonya?
Russian model, TV personality, and actress Bonya is 42 years old. Following her debut on the TNT reality series Dom-2 in 2006, she gained notoriety. The 42-year-old has been on the covers of numerous magazines, including Maxim and the Russian publication Penthouse, and she presented the Cosmopolitan programme. The model has moreover appeared in a number of music videos.
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She has one child and was born in Russia in November 1979. Angelina Laetitia Smurfit, Bonya’s 10-year-old daughter, was born in 2012. Alexander Smurfit, an Irish billionaire, is the father of Angelina’s father. Bonya joined Smurfit in Monaco, where he resided and worked, and there their daughter was born. On Instagram, Bonya has 9.3 million fans.
What is Victoria Bonya’s net worth?
Her estimated net worth is $1.5 million, or about £1.1 million. After arriving to Moscow at the age of 16 and beginning out as a server, the model’s career didn’t start until much later. She later worked as a secretary for a business that made plastic windows before competing in Miss Earth as Russia in 2001. After Bonya spent a year (2006–2007) as a guest on the reality series Dom-2, her modelling and presenting careers quickly took off.
Victoria Bonya Instagram Photos
