TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian police cancelled a catwalk show set to mark the opening of an unofficial Levi's store in a Tehran shopping centre, the Tasnim news agency reported Thursday.

The event was cancelled by "a last-minute police intervention" just before male models were set to walk on stage before a crowd of about 150 on Wednesday night, the hardliner-linked news agency said.

Despite opposition from religious leaders to the Westernisation of the country, luxury shopping centres have sprouted across the capital, with many unauthorised stores selling smuggled or fake Western brands.

Most US companies are still banned from doing business with Iran despite a nuclear deal that lifted some sanctions in January.

The organisers of Wednesday's fashion event, which was due to take place in the Rosha shopping centre in chic northern Tehran, said it was cancelled due to "technical problems", Tasnim reported.

Posters advertising the event and using the Levi's logo were still available on the shopping centre's Instagram and Telegram pages.