British brand Paul Smith announced the termination of work in Russia

British luxury clothing brand Paul Smith announced the cessation of work in Russia, expressing regret that he did not do this sooner. Financial Times And Daily Mail.

The retailer emphasized that it does not trade directly with Russia, for the last 20 years the brand has been cooperating with a franchising partner (named is Bosco di Ciliegi. – Vedomosti), who managed boutiques in the Russian Federation. Now the brand has stopped all deliveries to the distributor, demanding that all stores also close.

As the FT notes, many luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Burberry closed boutiques and terminated franchising agreements with Russian partners as early as March 2022, fearing reputational costs in continuing to operate in the country.

Paul Smith has become one of the few brands to continue to operate in Russia, with the Daily Mail running an article last weekend that Moscow’s GUM boutique stocked a plethora of items from the latest collection. After that, a public campaign was even launched to deprive the 76-year-old founder of the fashion house Paul Smith of the knighthood, and some politicians expressed concern that the brand continues to work in Russia.

The Paul Smith Group previously posted a pre-tax loss of £7m on annual revenue of £197m for the latest financial year ended 30 June 2022, FT reported.

At the end of January, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) reported that the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions did not have a significant impact on LVMH, but the holding lost 210 million euros due to the sale of the Sephora cosmetics chain in Russia. At the same time, LVMH reported that in 2022 the company’s revenue was a record and amounted to 79 billion euros, which is 23% higher than in 2021. Net income was 14 billion euros.