Russia's domestic fashion industry is trying to fill the void left by Western brands but is facing problems such as a lack of manpower, equipment and fabric supplies.
Dozens of brands such as Adidas, H&M and Zara have closed in Russia since the conflict with Ukraine began last year, while Western sanctions have cut off access to foreign goods.
Moscow saw its clothing imports from Europe fall 37.2% last year, according to the Fashion Network, a website specializing in fashion. The Kremlin sees the sanctions as an opportunity to boost domestic manufacturers after years of dependence on foreign imports.
While the state pours subsidies into industries like clothing, Moscow also faces an uphill battle to sell "Made in Russia" goods.
Fashion consultant Stanislava Nazhmitdinova in a store at a shopping mall in Moscow on August 16. Photo: AFP
Nadezhda Samoylenko, who has worked in the industry since 1978, said that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s light industry also suffered. Russia stopped producing fabrics and lost the knowledge needed to train managers, as Soviet-era training schools closed.
As a result, factories are 25-50% short of the necessary specialists. Today, while brands like H&M and Uniqlo have been replaced by Russian brands like LIME and Lady & Gentleman, the majority of production still takes place abroad.
“Major Russian clothing brands are produced in the same Asian factories as the Western brands that have left Russia,” said Tatyana Belkevich, an expert at RAFI, an association representing the Russian fashion industry.
Workers at a factory producing for the YOU brand in Saint Petersburg on August 10. Photo: AFP
In Saint Petersburg, the YOU fashion brand positions itself as an alternative to Spain’s Massimo Dutti, a label owned by the Inditex group that has closed more than 500 stores since the conflict in Ukraine began. The company does produce in Russia, but volumes remain low.
YOU said it doubled production last year to 4,000 items. The company aims to double that by 2024, “even though the delivery time for raw materials and supplies from Asia has also doubled,” CEO Yevgeniya Moseychuk said.
The brand has tripled its workforce in 18 months and opened six stores, but it still has a long way to go before it can start mass production. The company is still 25% short of the sewing staff it needs.
Nevertheless, the number of fashion companies in Russia is growing. According to the Rosakkreditatsiya business registration agency, the number of companies in the clothing sector increased by 20% from 2021 to 2022.
For marketing purposes, most brands opt for English names rather than Russian. “In their hearts, Russian consumers are still influenced by Western soft power,” Belkevich said.
Fashion consultant Stanislava Nazhmitdinova says customers’ choices are also driven more by finances than patriotism. “For consumers today, getting a bargain is more important than buying Russian-made goods,” she says.
Customers look at clothes in a shopping mall in Moscow on August 16. Photo : AFP
Clothing prices have increased by 30% as sanctions disrupt supply chains and the ruble's exchange rate against the dollar hits historic lows, according to the Fashion Consulting Group.
“Russians now say they are more interested in domestic brands, but in reality, they don't have a choice,” said Nazhmitdinova.
More than half of Russians continue to buy Western branded goods through third countries, according to auditing and consulting firm B1, the former Russian branch of Ernst & Young, one of the world's four largest auditing firms.
“When Westerners return to Russia, they will find loyal customers here again,” Nazhmitdinova said. “If those people are still alive, of course.”
Hong Hanh (According to AFP )
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