Bankruptcy Craze Consumes Russian Clothing Market
Producers and sellers of clothing in Russia have grown accustomed to boasting growth figures — in rubles, in square meters, and in the number of store openings. But on closer inspection, it all turned out to be a fiction: every third mass-market brand ended last year in the red, and the premium segment has completely collapsed — there, every second business is now unprofitable.
The clothing, footwear, and accessories market in Russia shrank by 5% over the year. Moreover, for the first time in many years, some market leaders plunged into the red — not small semi-artisanal workshops, but the chains Tvoyo, Oodji, and retailer Zenden.
An industry that just yesterday celebrated the departure of Western giants as a «window of opportunity» is now burying its own children — and doing it methodically, store by store. Details — in the report by MSK1.RU.
Numbers That Make You Want to Look Away
At the request of MSK1.RU, founder of the Be Famous PR communications agency Sofia Bergman analyzed the market situation. According to her calculations, in the first half of 2026, as many as 39 brands were forced to overhaul their offline presence strategies: a third cut back their retail networks, another third completely liquidated their physical stores.
«The Odezhda 3000 (Modis) chain shrank from 120 to 31 stores and is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, while Zenden faced tax claims of 24 billion rubles ($270 million at current exchange rates),» says Bergman.
In total since the start of 2026, 11 brands have completely closed their retail operations (a year earlier, 20 domestic players left the market). As a result, the share of unprofitable clothing chains in the country nearly doubled — from 18% to 34%.
The main pressures on business today are rising taxes, expensive rent, and complex logistics, says Bergman. On the other hand, a sharp drop in citizens« purchasing power is also hammering the market.
Clothing sales in 2025 shrank 8–10% compared to 2024. In monetary terms, however, the market nominally grew by 6%. This means that due to inflation, consumers are paying more but taking home fewer items, says Bergman. In the regions, because of lower incomes, this trend is felt even more acutely than in the capital.
In these conditions, the pricing of many local brands has clashed, so to speak, with buyers« capabilities. A price tag of 24,000–40,000 rubles ($270–$440 at current exchange rates) for a dress by a Russian designer makes the audience at least think twice.
«After all, this price is not always backed by material quality, and in terms of design, the market has for the last few years been offering essentially variations on the same themes from Western collections,» says Sofia Bergman.
The Culprits: «Ducks from Patriki»
Clothing designer and production head of the AltraNatura brand Arthur Nakhapetov does not mince words in his diagnosis. He boils down the causes of the market collapse to four points: an avalanche of small and random brands, a sharp drop in purchasing power, tough competition from Kyrgyzstan and China in the economy segment, and of course, marketplaces with their — in Nakhapetov«s expression — »suffocating policy of imposing discounts.«
According to the expert, after the departure of major Western players, everyone and their mother rushed into the industry — «bloggers, psychologists, doctors, even security officials.» People who suddenly decided that making clothes is easy and trendy.
«Thousands of brands, workshops, salons, and so on opened up. Meanwhile, the population»s ability to pay went down. So a sharp oversupply of products occurred on the market,« says Nakhapetov.
However, many «haute couture stars» refused to produce economy-class clothing, and manufacturers from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan quickly took advantage, simply being willing to work in that field.
Nakhapetov singled out pseudo-designers without their own style and identity:
«Everyone just copies each other; there isn»t a brand that stands out stylistically or with recognizability. There«s no individuality now. Many so-called »ducks from Patriki« (referring to trendy socialites from Moscow»s upscale Patriarch«s Ponds neighborhood) have come to me, calling themselves couturiers and shouting that they have their own brand. And they just show me photos from the internet and ask me to sew that item, but with their label. That kind of »couturier« is now closing in droves,» says the designer.
In his opinion, the most flexible and professional companies will survive in the current situation.
