Lingerie exports to Russia drops - EFTEC

12 Aug '09

4 min read

Due to order cancellations worth some € 23 mn., German exports of woven garments and knitwear to Russia declined by 6 per cent to a value of € 194 mn. over the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period of 2008. This is reported by the European Fashion and Textile Export Council (EFTEC) a few weeks ahead of the thirteenth edition of CPM, Collection Première Moscow, the international fashion trade show, organised by Igedo Company in Moscow from September 6-9, 2009.

According to Eurostat, deliveries of apparel from the 15 traditional member states of the European Union (EU-15) to Russia shrunk in total by 15 per cent from January till March 2009, reaching an amount of € 638 mn. The largest European supplier of apparel to Russia, Italy, saw a decline of shipments above average, at a rate of 20 per cent, accounting for € 281 mn.

France, ranking third, lost 23 per cent of her order business with Russian retail clients, representing a total export value of € 63 mn. As Reinhard E. Döpfer, President of EFTEC, explains, this comparison could mean that German fashion brands benefit from "closer customer alliances" with their Russian dealers than their Italian or French competitors.

According to EFTEC, which analyses European apparel exports to Russia on behalf of Igedo in terms of all major product categories every consecutive quarter of a year, the assessments made for the first three months of 2009 show substantial discrepancies of export development in the areas of menswear, womenswear and intimate apparel. As far as men's and boy's wear is concerned, EFTEC reports a decline of supplies from the member states of EU-15 to Russia at a rate of 16 per cent to € 143 mn. Men's suits are affected most seriously by a down turn of 34 per cent. On the other hand, and as a positive note, EFTEC reports an increase of exports of men's outdoor jackets and coats of 4 per cent, more than half of this category having been shipped from Germany to Russia.

Döpfer emphasises that exports of womenswear from the EU-15 to Russia performed comparatively better than menswear with a moderate decline of 6 percent, representing a value of € 305 mn. "Quite obviously, Russian retailers expect that female consumers are likely to react less sensitive to the crisis and spend more money on their wardrobe than Russian men", says Döpfer. As a testimonial for this reasoning, he points out that shipments of ladies' dresses from the member states of EU-15 to Russia increased by 17 per cent to a total of 39 mn. Exports of outdoor jackets and coats for female consumption rose by 4 per cent to € 29,5 mn and deliveries of women's jeans grew by 15 per cent to € 12 mn. Whereas Italy recorded a decline of her shipments of womenswear to Russia at a rate of 16 per cent to € 106 mn., German suppliers succeeded to maintain their export value at the same amount of € 116 mn. as over the first quarter of 2008.

As far as deliveries of intimate apparel from EU-15 to Russia are concerned, these declined by 23 per cent, representing a value of € 72 mn. EFTEC considers it as "normal" that the crisis influences Russian consumers to spend less on underwear and lingerie than on outerwear. As a consequence, shipments of men's underwear shrunk by 29 per cent to € 8 Mio. over the first quarter of this year. Lingerie, brassières, lounge-wear and swimwear for ladies saw a less heavy decline of 22 per cent to € 64 mn., a value including exports of pantyhose.

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