Dolce & Gabbana opens up Moscow mega boutique

Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are in Moscow to open their biggest brand boutique in the world as part of the company's 25th anniversary.

It is the first mono-brand shop in downtown Moscow with more than 1,000 square meters of retail space.

"Dolce&Gabbana" is very popular in Russia, with the brand being named “Luxury monobrand of the year” in 2009. Ekaterina Odintsova, editor-in-chief of Shopping Guide magazine, says that D&G has chosen the right time.

“The place and the time chosen are ideal: it’s summer, it’s the end of the crisis, it’s the people returning to their usual regime of consumption. The European market is already occupied and developing their business there. For such a famous brand as D&G, doesn’t have the prospects as expansion in Russia, I think.”

The brand is present in 80 countries across the world, and setting up in Russia likely to have a significant advantage over D&G's rivals.

According to Anna Lebsak-Klemens, CEO at Fashion Consulting Group, the new boutique could take some clients away from multibrands.

“There is going to be domestic competition. Being present in Russia’s capital, at a federal level is an additional competitive advantage to Ferre, Dolce & Gabbana and Cavalli. As the boutique opens directly, the brand might want to follow a mainstream price strategy. But on the other hand, they distribute much of their clothing through Russia, and, I’m sure, they won’t dampen Russian customers.”