The biggest designer boutiques, including Prada, Dior and Gucci, closed in Moscow as Western sanctions bit and the wives of oligarchs asked, “Where are we going to shop now?”
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The world’s biggest fashion houses have closed in Moscow, preventing Russia’s super-rich from shopping at their favorite designer boutiques.
Prada, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Fendi were among those who emptied their shelves in luxury malls in the Russian capital as sanctions begin to weigh.
Inside the elite TsUM and GUM outlets near Red Square, many of the top designers today were closed to unimpressed shoppers.
The world’s biggest fashion houses such as Prada, pictured today, have closed in Moscow, leaving Russia’s super-rich unable to shop in their favorite designer stores
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Prada, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Fendi were among those who emptied their shelves in luxury shopping malls in the Russian capital as sanctions begin to bite (pictured today)
Inside the elite TsUM and GUM outlets near Red Square, many of the best designers were closed to disappointed shoppers today
Today is normally a big shopping day in Moscow, when men shop for gifts for their partners ahead of International Women’s Day tomorrow.
But the sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine put an end to that.
‘What happened?’ asked a client in her thirties, apparently unaware of the invasion.
She looked puzzled at the empty shelves.
Today is normally one of the biggest shopping days in Moscow, when men shop for gifts for their partners ahead of International Women’s Day tomorrow
But sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine put a stop to designer shopping in Moscow today
Moscow Reds-to-Riches oligarchs and their wives often shopped in Europe or the United States rather than Moscow
The Moscow Reds-to-Riches oligarchs and their wives often shopped in Europe or the United States rather than Moscow – but foreign travel is now all but blocked.
Some Russian outlets remained open and crowded, but major Western brands were unavailable.
A furious shopper in a Chinchilla jacket said, “See, we’re too late.”
She had come with her parents to buy her birthday present at Jimmy Choo.
This store at TsUM remains open – but supplies were limited.
And the images showed distinctly gray clouds overhead.
“They don’t have my size,” she told her mother and father. “I told you, we should have come sooner.
Western sanctions are starting to hit consumers in Russia with many stores now closed
Russians were seen forming huge queues at ATMs, rushing to withdraw their US dollar deposits
Western sanctions and the collapse of the ruble have hammered the purchasing power of ordinary Russians
The global financial system risks being split as Russia turns to China’s response to Visa and Mastercard after the card companies pulled out of the country along with a host of other Western companies including Netflix and TikTok.
Lenders including Sberbank and Alfa Bank are planning to switch to UnionPay in China for their customers’ bank cards – although an expert today said the move would take time and cause serious economic disruption.
It’s a new sign that the global financial system is splitting in two, with Moscow increasingly backing Beijing’s efforts to challenge the West’s dominance over the global banking infrastructure.
Russia was also recently kicked out of Swift – which banks use to exchange messages – raising fears it may turn to CIPS, a Chinese rival, instead.
Western sanctions and the collapse of the ruble have hammered the purchasing power of ordinary Russians, who have been seen forming huge queues at ATMs, rushing to withdraw their US dollar deposits.
Last night, accounting firms PWC and KPMG became the latest firms to announce their withdrawal from Russia and its ally, Belarus. Meanwhile, there have been calls for boycotts of Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Pepsi for continuing to do business in the country.
