The invasion of Ukraine took place during the Paris and Milan fashion shows, forcing companies to take a stand, writes Il Post. The Ukrainian editions of Vogue and L’Officiel, two major fashion magazines, are calling on global brands to suspend all trade relations with Russia.
Imran Amed, founder of Business of Fashion, responded to the appeal by writing that “we cannot continue as if nothing had happened. We must show solidarity with Ukraine and isolate Russia to put pressure on Putin to end the war” and the British Fashion Council, the British fashion association, called on “all the brands in our network to show their support, in any way, to the international movement that condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia”.
Within a week, the industry’s response became more concrete. Hermès was the first luxury company to announce the temporary closure of all its stores in Russia and the suspension of commercial activities in the country, due to the “situation in Europe”. On the same day, LVMH, which controls Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi and Givenchy among others, sided with “all those affected by the war” and announced the donation of 5 million euros to the International Red Cross and the closure of all its 120 stores in Russia, while continuing to pay the salary of the 3,500 employees in the country; he finally said he was concerned about his 150 employees in Ukraine, whom he was trying to help. Chanel, Kering – the other large luxury group French that controls Gucci, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent – and the Swiss group Richemont – which owns Cartier and Montblanc – have also done the same, with more nuanced positions: Kering has closed stores “for growing fears of the situation in Europe”, Chanel for “growing insecurity and logistical difficulty”.
Almost all the big brands followed closely: Prada, Moncler, Burberry, Nike, Adidas, up to fast fashion chains (the cheapest fashion) such as H&M, Inditex (zara’s group), which closed its 502 stores in Russia and 79 in Ukraine, and Mango which has 120 stores in Russia. Among the few that has not suspended trade relations with Russia is the Japanese Uniqlo: its executive director Tadashi Yanai explained that “dressing is a vital necessity and Russians have the same right to live that we have” and that therefore the 50 stores in the country will remain open. Meanwhile, many large online clothing retailers, such as Farfetch, Mytheresa and Yoox Net-a-Porter, have stopped selling in Russia.
Despite the mobilization, many brands did not openly criticize Putin and avoided words such as “war” and “invasion.” The neutrality of the fashion world, writes Business of Fashion (BoF), has always been a problem of the sector, which must be able to sell the same product to countries that can also be hostile to each other.
