Tom Ford plans to revive the Russian luxury market

Tom Ford opens women’s store in luxury-loving Russia
Fashion designer Tom Ford has opened his first women’s clothes store in Moscow, giving a confidence boost to Russia’s reviving luxury goods market.

The 50-year-old Ford said he was not phased by the prospects of another economic recession in Russia, which previously ranked as the fourth-largest buyer of luxury goods.

Tom Ford opened his first Moscow menswear store in 2009 and his new shop is located in an opulent central Moscow gallery, home to Prada and Tiffany boutiques and a Bentley car dealership

“Customers who are consuming our product may not be buying a new house or a new car, but they are still buying a new shirt, they are still buying a new pair of shoes,” Tom Ford told wearing a sleek suit from the eponymous brand he launched in 2005.

Top designers are steadily trickling back into Russia after the 2009 economic crisis devastaed the luxury goods market and forced stores such as Alexander McQueen to board up their windows for good.