Courchevel Scandal: Russian Brand Angers Customers With Luxury Press Tour

Russian retail chain Rendez-Vous (shoes & accessories retailer) angered customers after organizing a celebrity press tour to Courchevel. Outraged comments flooded the brand's official account on social media.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Florian Pépellin, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Courchevel 1850 et front de neige avant Noël (décembre 2019)

Among the celebrities who traveled to the French resort were model Elena Perminova, journalist Ksenia Sobchak, blogger Oksana Samoilova, actress Elizaveta Bazykina, stylist Alexander Rogov, businesswoman Ksenia Shipilova, and other brand ambassadors. The company said it organized the trip to mark the brand's 25th anniversary.

Customers Criticize Location and Influencer Choice

In the comments, Russian customers criticized the choice of Courchevel as the anniversary location. Many argued that the brand's core audience cannot afford such trips. Others questioned the selection of influencers, saying they do not wear products from Rendez-Vous boutiques.

"Strange that they invite top-tier celebrities instead of people who actually represent the brand,” one commenter wrote. "Where did Rendez-Vous take its real brand supporters, the ones who keep the company alive?”

Other comments echoed the criticism: "Why not Rosa Khutor (a popular ski resort in Sochi, Russia - ed.)?”, "They do not wear Rendez-Vous, but the brand flies them out anyway - that's life,” and "You throw a feast in a country unfriendly to us while continuing to earn money in Russia.”

Brand Responds as Scale of Celebration Emerges

In response, company representatives stressed that the trip came from the Courchevel boutique team to mark that store's 16th anniversary. "This is a local format for a specific store in Courchevel; many projects in Russia lie ahead,” the statement said.

However, in the fourth year of the special military operation, the Russian footwear and clothing chain Rendez-Vous still chose to celebrate its 25th anniversary with an extravagant party in Courchevel. Social media created the impression that organizers flew Russian bloggers and celebrities on private jets, housed them in luxury chalets, entertained them with helicopter tours over the Alps, and staged high-energy parties in snow-covered mountains.

Tables overflowed with oysters and Louis Roederer Cristal champagne, priced at around 80,000 rubles (about $1,000) per bottle. The highlight of the evening came with a performance by global star Patricia Kaas. Experts estimate the event may have cost organizers between 30 and 40 million rubles.

Sharp Words and a Moral Contrast

Rendez-Vous public relations teams now attempt to contain the backlash, arguing that the event targeted clients beyond Courchevel and that projects across Russia remain planned.

Yet Alina Mieva, Director of Strategic Marketing at Rendez-Vous, chose not to apologize.

"On questions of our company's promotion strategy, I think we can manage without your advice,” she said sarcastically. "Some people work hard, others only observe, and our values clearly do not align.”

The lavish Courchevel party unfolded against the backdrop of the ongoing special military operation, while thousands of ordinary Russians, bloggers, and business owners chose a different path – direct assistance. From the first days of the operation, grassroots fundraising campaigns have spread across the country. Donations turn into tons of humanitarian aid that volunteers deliver to the front lines.

Instead of champagne worth 80,000 rubles a bottle, packages contain essentials for survival and combat: canned food and crackers, warm socks and thermal underwear, tourniquets and bandages, batteries and tactical flashlights. Rendez-Vous could have supported soldiers and civilians with footwear, warm sleeping bags, or generators. Instead, the company chose to spend millions entertaining well-fed bloggers in Courchevel.