Tati Cotliar Wears Chanel Cruise In 'Cuba Libre' As Hotels In Havana Soak Up The Food Supply

Tati Cotliar Wears Chanel Cruise In 'Cuba Libre' By Chintoo For L'Officiel Malaysia

Last May Karl Lagerfeld put Chanel on the map as the first luxury house to hold a runway show in Havana, Cuba. The designer flew 700 guests and 45 models to Cuba for a weekend-long celebration of Cuban culture through the lens of Lagerfeld's romanticism. "This is all about my vision of Cuba," Lagerfeld told The Cut. "But of course, what do I know about Cuba? It is very childish, my idea."

New York Magazine's 'The Cut' wrote in-depth about Lagerfeld's arrival in Havana. The designer followed up in October 2016 with a cruise campaign featuring Mica Arganaraz and Stella Tennant. 

The impact of fashion and travel in Cuba has brought a mixed bag reality for its people. Due to the American embargo and poor government planning on the island, food shortages are worse than ever wrote the New York Times this week. Private restaurants now take priority over Cuba's citizens in the flow of scarce resources like green peppers, onions, cucumbers, garlic and even lettuce to hungry mouths. 

Cuba experienced a record arrival of 3.5 million tourists last year. 

While many Cubans have long been hardened to the reality of going without, never more than during what they call the “Special Period” after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new dynamic that has emerged in recent months threatens the nation’s future, experts warn.

“The government has consistently failed to invest properly in the agriculture sector,” said Juan Alejandro Triana, an economist at the University of Havana. “We don’t just have to feed 11 million people anymore. We have to feed more than 14 million.”

“In the next five years, if we don’t do something about it, food will become a national security issue here,” he added.

Related: Amid Grim Economic Forecasts. Cubans Fear a Return to Darker Times New York Times