Russia's luxury market has halved
The international market research firm Mordor Intelligence estimates the volume of the Russian luxury market at 2.2 billion euros for 2025. Artur Gafarov, an analyst at the Russian Institute for Entrepreneurship Development, estimates the figure at 1.8 billion euros—less than half the 2021 level (3.5 billion euros). The luxury market includes clothing and accessories, leather goods and footwear, jewelry, watches, eyewear, and premium cosmetics.
Moscow luxury department store bucks the trend
In contrast, Moscow’s Central Universal Department Store (ZUM) increased its revenue in 2025 for the first time in four years, to 3.9 billion rubles, equivalent to 45 million euros. This represents a 22.1% increase compared to 2024. Net profit grew by 68.3% to 2.1 billion rubles, or 24 million euros. Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of the Moscow-based retail research firm INFOLine-Analitika, cites several reasons for ZUM’s upswing: a broad product range, effective marketing communications, and an aggressively expanded online business, which sets the company apart from its competitors.
Anna Lebsak-Kleimans, Managing Director of the Moscow-based Fashion Consulting Group, explains that the luxury segment is growing and now accounts for 17% of the fashion market, up from 12% in 2022.
The consulting firm Bain and the Italian luxury association Altagamma, which compile the global benchmark report on the luxury market, have not listed Russia separately since 2022. By comparison: According to Statista, the German luxury market was worth around 16 billion euros, making it six to eight times larger than the Russian market. For 2026, Bain expects the global personal luxury goods market to grow by 3 to 5%, driven primarily by the U.S. and stable European demand.
Parallel imports with a 30% markup
Most Western luxury brands have officially left Russia. Take “Louis Vuitton,” for example, which most recently generated just 235,000 rubles (2,700 euros) in revenue, down from 17.3 billion rubles (around 173 million euros) in 2021. Chanel completed the liquidation of its Russian subsidiary in 2024.
Nevertheless, many luxury products still make their way into Russia via parallel imports, albeit at higher prices that are “on average 30% higher in Moscow than in Singapore and London,” as market analyst Anna Lebsak-Kleimans explains.
Who took over the vacant spaces in the second well-known luxury department store next to GUM, the GUM on Red Square, illustrates the transformation following the withdrawal of Western brands: The Chinese technology company Huawei moved in to replace Tiffany, the Russian fashion brand 12 Storeez took over the Hermès space, and the clothing store Lime took over the Louis Vuitton space. GUM is stagnating. The retail complex generated 6.1 billion rubles in revenue in 2025, 70 million euros, 1.1% more than in 2024; net profit fell to 387 million rubles, 4.4 million euros, the lowest level in recent years.
36 trademark applications, zero openings
Russian media often comment on new applications filed with the Rospatent patent office as a “return.” The reality is usually different. Chanel has filed a total of 36 trademark applications since 2022, including two in January 2026 alone, as reported by the Moscow business newspaper Vedomosti. Prada secured the trademark for cosmetics in February 2026, valid through 2035. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on February 13, 2026, that Western brands would “definitely return to Russia.” Natalia Kermedchiyeva, vice president of the Russian Association of Shopping Centers, however, does not expect any concrete steps toward a return “before 2029.”
There is a single concrete announcement regarding the return of a luxury brand. It comes from the French luxury brand Dior: The flagship boutiques on Stoleshnikov Street and in GUM are set to reopen on January 1, 2028. Meanwhile, the owners of Russian luxury brands are globalizing.
This article first appeared in the exclusive newsletter of the German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade
