MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Russian clothing brands are interested in the premises of foreign luxury fashion brands in central Moscow, Irina Kozina, director of street retail at Knight Frank Russia, told TASS on Monday.
In particular, Russian clothing brand 12Storeez has recently opened a boutique in Stoleshnikov Pereulok (Stoleshnikov Lane), in the building which was earlier occupied by Brunello Cucinelli (an Italian luxury fashion brand - TASS).
"Just the other day, a 12Storeez boutique opened in Stoleshnikov Lane. It occupies about 300 square meters and is considered the flagship project of the brand. Previously this building was occupied by Brunello Cucinelli. Now we see the rise of Russian brands and designers, which allows us to be optimistic about import substitution in the fashion industry," Kozina said.
According to her, Russian fashion designers have been active for a long time renting premises in trendy locations. The area of these premises varies between 100-150 square meters.
"Perhaps we will hear about the opening of stores of Russian designers in the central shopping streets this year," she added.
In particular, the Ushatava brand opened its boutique in Petrovka street in 2019, while Monochrome has been operating in Stoleshnikov Lane since 2020 and Petra has been working on Patriarch Ponds, Yevgenia Prilutskaya, head of the CORE.XP infrastructure retail department, told TASS.
"Russian fashion players are mainly interested in the premises of currently closed stores on the most trafficked streets," she said. She believes that the trend towards an increase in the number of transactions with Russian players due to the minimal activity on the part of foreign brands will certainly become stronger.
The expert added that at the moment the temporary closure of international brands, with rare exceptions, has not led to an increase in vacancies in the center of Moscow, brands continue to fulfill their obligations under contracts.
"Possible changes may be noticeable in the second half of the year," the industry expert suggested.