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Chanel's Havana show: controversy, communism and Tony Castro

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Staging an elite fashion show in a country with an annual salary of £3,000 is rife with complications, but it’s also classic Lagerfeld
Gisele poses before the Chanel show at Paseo del Prado in Havana

 Karl Lagerfeld likes to ruffle feathers almost as much as he likes to make ballgowns out of them. Remember the Feministe fashion show? The time he dissed sweatpants? That time he dissed ADELE, for freak’s sake?

 His latest spotlight-grabbing setpiece was to stage a catwalk show in communist-ruled Cuba less than a year into the warming of diplomatic relations with the west. Lagerfeld told Reuters the show was a homage to the “cultural richness and opening up of Cuba”. But the staging of an elite fashion event in a country with an average annual salary of £3,000 was always likely to court controversy. Chanel goods are not available to buy in Cuba.





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