Wardrobe reassessment – Newspaper Kommersant No. 199 (7400) of 10/26/2022

The phrase “we began to dress better” from an interview with an ordinary resident of Ivanovo, Svetlana Kuritsyna, not only became winged, but also determined the development trend of the clothing market in large Russian cities over the past ten years, or rather, its focus on fast fashion. So, for the owners of shopping centers, it was Inditex, H&M and Uniqlo that were among the most desirable tenants: they generated traffic.

But the picture familiar to consumers was broken by the sanctions and the massive suspension of international brands in Russia. The first reaction of consumers to this was the question: what to wear? The second is the hope that large networks will still resume work. At the moment, it is obvious that if the supply of goods of familiar brands to the country does not stop completely, then they will be greatly rethought. For example, Inditex has already agreed to sell the Russian business to a partner from the UAE, saying that the purchase of new collections will be carried out by a structure that has nothing to do with the parent company. H&M is just closing stores for now, and Uniqlo clothes can only be bought on marketplaces.

For the layman, the decrease in volumes and the complication of the logistics of deliveries of democratic brands almost always means an increase in retail prices. But this goes against the concept of fast fashion, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as clothing that is cheap so people can buy it often. The place is unlikely to be empty: foreign networks in the Russian market are now actively replacing local and Turkish clothing manufacturers. According to R4S, the total number of street retail transactions in January-September in the fashion segment increased by 9%. But new players are unlikely to aspire to fast fashion, if only because of the modest volume of production.

The world market is gradually saying goodbye to the era of fast fashion. Spanish newspaper El Confidencial recently reported that Inditex will launch Zara Pre-Owned in the UK, allowing consumers to refurbish or resell used clothing. Formally, we are talking about sustainable development, in reality it is hard not to see the company’s attempt to compete for consumers who can no longer afford to update their wardrobe as often as before.

Taking into account the “green agenda”, the approaching end of fast fashion could even be considered positive. But for ordinary consumers, the question of what, in principle, to reorient is more and more urgent. The most obvious solution is to search for budget offers on large online sites, which may well become an analogue of already forgotten clothing markets. Although more extraordinary solutions can be used. The publication “Big City”, for example, recently offered readers a guide “New mass market: what to buy at Auchan” with a selection of cheap underwear, clothes and shoes.