UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese is facing the prospect of criticism from the boycott movement after appearing on the cover of a fashion magazine wearing items from luxury brands that activists claim have financial links to Israel.
Albanese has become one of the Jewish State’s most vocal international critics in her role researching the situation in the Palestinian territories.
But her photoshoot, during which she sported clothing from Loro Piana and Celine, has drawn significant backlash.
Loro Piana and Celine are both owned by French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which pro-Palestinian boycott and brand-monitoring platforms have identified as companies consumers should avoid because of investments connected to LVMH and its chairman, Bernard Arnault.
One of the main reasons cited is Arnault's investment in Wiz, an Israeli-founded cybersecurity company. In 2021, Arnault and US billionaire Howard Schultz participated as individual investors in a $120 million funding round for the company.
In 2022, LVMH Luxury Ventures, the luxury group's investment arm, participated in a $90 million funding round for Lusix, an Israeli company producing laboratory-grown diamonds. The funding was intended in part to expand the company's production capacity in Israel.
Those investments have subsequently been cited by boycott campaigners as evidence of financial links between LVMH and Israel.
There is no evidence that Albanese personally selected the clothes for the shoot, or that she personally purchased the items.
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