Vogue Ukraine has urged major fashion companies to place an embargo on Russia as the country continues its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
“In the wake of unprecedented military aggression from the Russian Federation and growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Vogue UA urges all international fashion and luxury conglomerates and companies to cease any collaborations on the aggressor’s market effective immediately,” it said in a statement posted to Instagram.
The fashion publication, which is owned by Condé Nast and published under a licensing agreement with Media Group Ukraine, tagged a number of major players and Vogue Ukraine partners, including LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Kering, Richmond, Prada, Swatch Group, Chanel, Hermès, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Burberry, Valentino, Versace, Hugo Boss, Calzedonia, Puig and Shiseido.
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“These measures should apply to the brands and other entities that produce and also distribute and sell fashion goods, accessories, fine jewelry and watches, luxury lifestyle products on the Russian market. Showing your conscience and choosing humanity over monetary benefits is the only reasonable stand one can take in confronting the violent behavior of Russia,” it continued. “Moreover, Vogue UA appeals to the global fashion industry to not keep silence [sic] during these dark times as the fashion community has a strongest voice.”
In recent days, international communities have placed a number of sanctions on Russia, including expelling some Russian banks from global financial messaging service SWIFT. The U.S. has also banned dollar transactions with the Russian central bank, while Germany has halted certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
It had been thought that the latest round of sanctions might include luxury goods, but so far, the sector has not been included, with the focus instead on financial services, energy, transport and technology.
Italian luxury goods exports to Russia top 1 billion euros annually and rumors spread over the weekend amid Milan Fashion Week that the Italian government was looking to exclude the sector from the sanctions, although Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi denied that this was the case.
This comes as a GoFundMe page called “Keep Ukraine’s media going” and run by a consortium of The Fix, Are We Europe, Jnomics and Media Development Foundation, as well as multiple media partners from across Europe, has raised more than 367,000 pounds in four days.
“We are working with a growing list of Ukrainian media, including Ukrainska Pravda, Zaborona, Detector Media and others. Support is allocated based on urgency of needs in the first place, then distributed proportionally,” the page stated.
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