Raw materials are rising, and Russian clothing and footwear prices are rising

Sofia Kofmann , director of fashion retailer Marc O'Polo AG , said that the purchase price of raw materials, including cotton, is rising, and the cost of cotton has increased by 20%-35%. She expects that the final price of cotton products will increase by 20%-30%.

Semyon Pimenov, founder of another fashion brand Dorogobogato, holds the same view. He believes that the change in raw material costs is linked to the US dollar exchange rate. He explained: "In order to avoid a cash gap, suppliers have increased the purchase price of raw materials to prevent the ruble from falling again."

Emil Oruglu , general manager of D's Damat in Russia , recalled that in recent years, prices of all kinds of fabrics have been rising, especially those from Italy.

The Russian Federation and the Ministry of Trade said that due to the high inflation expectations in the global market, the price of cotton in Russia has risen by 30%-50% since the beginning of this year. In fact, not only in Russia, but also in many countries around the world, cotton prices have hit new highs this year.

In addition, the price of petroleum products also has an impact on clothing and footwear. For example, many artificial leathers, height-increasing pads, insoles, etc. are made of polyurethane, and most polyurethanes come from petroleum refining. Therefore, a slight change in the price of oil will affect this series of products, which can be described as "a single move affects the whole body." Ivan Shakhin, deputy general manager of a footwear retail brand S.Oliver Shoes, said that the price of petroleum product materials has risen by about 20%.

Sofia Kofman predicts that consumers will find price indexation in the clothing category this summer, and Russian brand products may become significantly more expensive. In addition, rising logistics costs and wage costs are also the reasons for the increase in clothing prices in Russia.

Wildberries, Russia's largest e-commerce platform, believes that clothing price indexation will be gradual, because manufacturers are still selling series of goods that were not sold during and after the lockdown last year. Anna Lebak-Kleimans, president of Fashion Consulting Group, also said that market participants will gradually increase commodity prices. In addition, they may buy cheaper materials to reduce development costs.

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