The company that owns the Uniqlo brand, the Japanese Fast Retailing, has decided not to stop selling its products in Russia. Thus, it joins the small group of companies that, contrary to the path that many others have taken after the invasion of Vladimir Putin’s country in Ukraine.
“Clothing is a necessity of life. In Russia, people have the same rights to live as everyone else.” Those are the words used by the CEO of Fast Retailing, Tadashi Yanai, as an argument for not following in the footsteps of other fast fashion brands when it comes to selling in Russia.
Both H&M and Zara (of the Spanish Inditex) announced last week that they would stop selling clothes in Russia due to the invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The pressure of public opinion on brands is becoming stronger and has caused dozens of companies to stop marketing products or suspend services in the main Russian cities.
It affects multiple sectors, from oil companies such as Shell, to payment systems and credit cards, such as American Express, Visa and Mastercard. In addition to the Ikea furniture factory and the Airbnb hosting application.
Even major ocean carriers have curbed container shipments to and from Russia and companies like Nike have closed their store doors.
This March 6, in addition, Netflix joined, which stopped broadcasting in Russian territory, KPMG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Danone, which suspended investments in Russia, where it sells almost 7 percent of its products.
Uniqlo’s decision is in line with two other brands still present in Russia: McDonald’s and PepsiCo.
Is Uniqlo part of the fast fashion circle?
Strictly speaking, Uniqlo is not a faithful representative of fast fashion in a traditional way, but “plays” in a parallel strategy: timeless basic.
The difference is subtle, but it exists. While the leaders of fast fashion (H&M and Zara) methodically follow fashion trends, Uniqlo aims for the timeless.
H&M and Zara use the same logic: they create the need, they manufacture the garment at record speed, they sell it as soon as possible and after a few months (even sooner), they offer it at auction prices. At the same time they seek to generate the need in another garment, and thus in an endless virtuous circle.
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