Experts explained why Russian-made clothes are so expensive

Unpleasant surprise: I found that an evil moth ate a piece of my favorite turtleneck. True, it would seem that the problem is not big: the turtleneck was Russian-made, which means that you need to quickly open the store’s website and order a successor for it, that’s business! I open. Surprise: a turtleneck, which in 2019 I bought for about 4,000 rubles, today costs 44 thousand. Okay, maybe not exactly she (the collections are changing!), But her close relative, but still. Well, let the cashmere. Well, let production be expensive. But not as much?!

This is what import substitution looks like, which should seem to become closer to the people and help make the departure of foreign brands as unnoticed as possible? .. Well, well …

Here’s just a nuance: Italian cashmere of the mass market level still costs about 15-20 thousand rubles for a sweater. And if you go to a department store where imported and domestic items are delicately mixed in the trading floors, you will immediately notice: the prices either do not differ, or they differ not in favor of ours.

However, anyone who buys clothes more than once every couple of years, and does not use the word “brand” as a curse, has long understood that Russian-made clothes are not cheap pleasure. Even if you primitively drive the query “why Russian clothes are so expensive” into a search engine, you will immediately receive a dozen links, each of which contains explanations and calculations. And most of the owners of Russian fashion brands have already given more than one interview with detailed answers why not everyone can afford to wear their clothes.

Let’s go over the shelves of the most popular brands, which today are called the hope, support and future of Russian fashion – those that are entirely with numbers in their names. Let’s start with the one where the sweater for 44 thousand. We are looking at other positions: a wool and cashmere jumpsuit – 19,980 rubles, festive velvet trousers – 24,980, a tweed miniskirt – 12,980. All this despite the fact that there are legends about the quality of this brand’s patterns, and alas, unflattering ones.

“At such moments, I am glad that their cut does not suit me,” I share my impressions with a familiar fashion designer.

– Dasha, I’ll whisper in your ear: their cut does not suit anyone! the expert laughs.

The question “then why all this?” remains rhetorical. Let’s move on to another store. It’s a little simpler here: an evening mini-dress with sequins, just in time for the New Year, costs 16,990 rubles, and a cozy warm woolen dress with a high collar “for every day” costs 13,990 rubles. You can buy classic (and really well-tailored!) jeans for 7-9 thousand rubles. The next store relied on Scandinavian-inspired minimalism… but not on prices. Laconic black banana trousers – 10,490 rubles, the same price for a free office dress made of viscose, a voluminous jacket – 17,000.

The approximate order of prices becomes clear. An important clarification: these are all brands that do not position themselves as premium at all or even as the notorious upper middle class. On the contrary, it is with them that we are invited to replace (and not be sad in vain) Zara and the company.

Why are prices skyrocketing? The answer, alas, is written on the label – where the composition is. The brand may be domestic, but the materials and accessories are still completely foreign. Most firms continue to buy fabrics mainly in Germany and Italy (especially wool and yarn), a little less often – in Turkey and China, cotton is often brought from Uzbekistan. Now a little math: due to rising prices for electricity, gas and water in Europe, fabrics have risen in price by an average of 30%, and since it is no longer possible to transport directly, logistics through third countries has also risen in price. So it turns out that the thing of the Russian brand – it seems to be “absolutely independent”! – Today it costs about 60-70% more than a year ago.

In order for prices to be favorable for any buyer, huge production capacities are needed, which at the moment no domestic brand has.

“So what, we don’t have anything of our own at all?” someone will exclaim. No, of course it’s not all that bad. Decent cotton fabrics are made in Russia. There are some pretty good synthetics out there. Well, but wool, for example, or even more so silk of the appropriate quality (so that they want to buy) and in such a volume is not.

– The devil is in the details. For example, we all know about Russian linen clothes: signs like “Vologda linen” or “Suzdal linen” can be seen in tourist cities. This is really our brand, only Russian linen is much coarser than Italian linen. Therefore, many sew a conditional “native linen” from Italian, they simply do not advertise it. However, Russian linen can be saved if you at least wash it in a good conditioner and invest more in processing. Well, that is, we again come to the question of high cost, – an experienced tailor-fashion designer Vladimir K. argues in an interview with the MK correspondent. – Let’s go further: what can we sew ourselves? For example, bright cotton or chintz sweatshirts. By the way, they are now back in fashion, I have seen many of these shirts in the collections of Italian brands. Accordingly, there are no problems with summer cotton dresses either. Where is the problem? The answer will be sudden – threads! We have huge problems with natural threads, the quality is poor. Well, you can’t sew cotton, woolen, and even more so silk things with polyester threads – such a thing will not survive washing. Therefore, we buy German threads. Accessories are also desirable to take Italian or American.

The fashion designer contrasts the mass accessories from the USA with unique things – for example, spectacular large wooden buttons that can be made in Russia from our woods. But here, again, we are talking about small print runs and copyright items, and not about being able to outshine Zara.

Image maker Zhannat Idrisova explained the current situation in exactly the same way: according to her, the high cost of Russian-made things cannot be denied, but it is very easy to explain – by several obvious and objective factors:

– First of all, it’s about production – it costs more. This is not only about fabrics, but also about equipment: few people think that equipment is also imported! And it must not only be purchased, but also maintained in good condition. Well, the materials, of course, too: most of our brands have foreign ones, which means that logistics and other overhead costs are included in the price, ”the expert noted in an interview with an MK correspondent.

In a word, it is possible to explain the reasons for the high cost. It’s up to you to try to convince people to pay for it. No, the deficit (they say, where are you going, there is still no import!) – so far a prohibited technique, for now it is worth getting by with more humane strategies. And this is where philosophy comes into play. Yes, they say, we cannot provide circulation and cheapness of the H&M level, but we make each collection with love! But we are customer-oriented, and we are ready to correspond with each buyer in the messenger, discussing the features of fitting things according to the figure! And in general: think about it, maybe you don’t need ten cheap sweaters, but rather you buy one good, expensive, investment thing?.. And don’t forget, of course, about taking care of the environment!

Oh sure. Maybe ten sweaters are unnecessary. Here’s just a nuance: 44 thousand (and even 25) for one good expensive sweater most Russians do not have. That’s just not. Not affordable – period.