The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The decision comes as the company faced public pressure to halt operations in the country, as a wave of retailers, including fast fashion rivals H&M and Zara, shut up shop.
Until today, the Japanese clothing giant had been a lonely voice maintaining its intention to continue operating its 50 stores in the Russian market.
”Clothing is a necessity of life. The people of Russia have the same right to live as we do,” Tadashi Yanai, the founder and chief executive of Uniqlo-parent Fast Retailing was quoted as saying by Japan’s Nikkei newspaper earlier this week.
The comments prompted a negative response from many users on social media and Ukraine’s ambassador to Japan, Sergiy Korsunsky, criticised the retailer on Twitter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Companies continuing to operate in Russia are also facing mounting logistical and operational challenges as a results of sanctions and broader corporate exits.”[I]t has become clear to us that we can no longer proceed due to a number of difficulties,” Fast Retailing said in a statement Thursday, pointing to both operational challenges and the worsening conflict in Ukraine.
The company also said it has donated $10 million to UNHCR.
Learn more:
Uniqlo Pressured to Halt Russia Sales After CEO Vows to Stay
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing Co. faces mounting pressure over its plans to keep operating stores in Russia, even as other global retailers pause sales in the country over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features the China Duty Free Group, Uniqlo’s Japanese owner and a pan-African e-commerce platform in Côte d’Ivoire.
Affluent members of the Indian diaspora are underserved by fashion retailers, but dedicated e-commerce sites are not a silver bullet for Indian designers aiming to reach them.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Brazil’s JHSF, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the impact of Taiwan’s earthquake on textile supply chains.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features Dubai’s Majid Al Futtaim, a Polish fashion giant‘s Russia controversy and the bombing of a Malaysian retailer over blasphemous socks.