The Luxembourg-based organization Wealthy Without Borders is collecting Louis Vuitton bags to be sent to rich women in Russia who are trapped without access to basic luxury goods, the group says.
Association president Olesya Kuznetsova urges well-to-do people from all backgrounds to think about their peers in Russia who are now suffering.
“Right now, there are tens of thousands of rich women in Russia who, due to sanctions and store closures, cannot buy that adorable 2,500-euro handbag they had their eye on,” she said. “You know the one I’m talking about, the one with the white strap that would look great with your tweed Chanel dress.”
Kuznetsova says WWB is only accepting new Vuitton bags, “preferably covered in the original Vuitton gift wrapping, and if you want to enclose a box of Ladurée macarons or a little note of support written on expensive stationary paper and spirized with fancy perfume, that’s entirely up to you.”
Belair resident Murielle Biggs, who has already donated four purses, says that when she saw videos of poor rich women lined up outside the Vuitton store in Moscow just as it was being closed forever, her heart broke.
“It’s awful, because if I didn’t have my Vuitton sack, I would die,” she said. “I don’t mean that figuratively, I mean gasp, choke, expire.”
“This one time in Paris, I locked myself outside my hotel room without my handbag, and they called an ambulance because but I couldn’t breathe, and they had to start banging on random room doors until another guest gave them a Hermès bag, which is not the same, but it was good enough for me to hold and smell until I calmed down and they unlocked my room.”
Due to the cancellation of flights between Russia and most European countries, WWB says they are looking for drivers to transport the sacks to the Russian border.
“We’re open to any sort of vehicle, but if you have an Audi or Range Rover, that’s better,” Kuznetsova said. “Keep in mind that the wealthy woman crowded near the border will be desperate for authentic luxury goods and probably really scared of getting counterfeits, so if you have a nice car, that will give them some reassurance.”
