Contacts

Brands are shapeshifters. Fake brands (household appliances) On the night of the end of the ultimatum for Kyiv, the lights were turned on at the Donbass Arena

The article is quite old from 2012, but has not lost its relevance.

A foreign name and a high price are the only way to make people believe that the product is of high quality. “Cars must be German or Japanese, perfume must be French, shoes must be Italian,” these are the main consumer stereotypes.

Vigor commercial director Alexander Nazarov does not hide the fact that all their household appliances, like any other Russian company, are bought in the countries of Southeast Asia, assembled at the same factories and are often not just similar in appearance, but the same. “We come to the factories, look at what they offer us, choose the models we like and agree on the price for which they will put the name of our brand on the kettle,” he says. “It makes no sense to develop our own design: it’s expensive, and it doesn’t matter.” will be stolen."

Shoes

legend: Italy

reality: Russia, Alexander Bayer

production: -

legend: -

reality: Ukraine

production: -

legend: England, early 90s

reality: Ukraine, Evgeniy Filatov, ~2005

production: -

legend: England

reality: 1996

production: China, Poland

comments: the history of the "Camelot" company began in 1996 with the opening of a small store where the collections "Grinders", "Dr. Martens", "Shellys" and others were presented. But not everyone could afford these shoes because of the high price. Since 1999, almost the same shoes have appeared, but made not in Britain and the USA, but in Poland and China under the control of a Russian company.

Carlo Pazolini

legend: Italy

reality: Russia, Carlo Pazolini group, Ilya Reznik, 1992

production: Russia, China, the most expensive models can be located in Italy (according to a company employee)

comments: the boxes indicate that the shoes were made in Russia, but the reassuring “Made in Italy” is often indicated on the insoles and soles

Carnaby(see TJ Collection)

Chester(see TJ Collection)

Gianni(see Luciano Carvari)

legend: -

reality: Ukraine

production: -

legend: Netherlands, 1978, all Lobster shoes have red lining because red is the color of royal luxury

reality: Ukraine

production: -

Luciano Carvari

legend: Italy

reality: Ukraine, 2005

production: -

Mascotte(type Italy)

Paolo Conte(type Italy)

Ralph Ringer

legend: -

reality: Russia

production: Russia (Moscow, Vladimir, Zaraysk)

comments: by name it is considered German or Austrian

Shabelski(see Luciano Carvari)

Tervolina

legend: -

reality: Russia

production: Russia (Tolyatti), “Leader”

comments: the name Tervolina dates back to the times when the company did not sew its own shoes, but imported them from the Czech Republic and Hungary

TJ Collection

legend: England, 1992, “continuing the ancient traditions of English craftsmen”, “unique English style”, “the heart of swinging London in the 60s”, “beautiful and comfortable shoes are made in Italy and Spain in family shoe factories, the secrets of which are passed on from generation to generation"

reality: Russia (Ufa), Timur and Yulia (their initials are in the name TJ Collection)

production: Russia, China, in Italy they put in branded insoles, pack them in boxes, write Made in Italy

Clothes and accessories

Alessandro Manzoni(type Italy)

Baon(like Sweden)

legend: -

reality: Russia, "Melon Fashion Group"

production: Russia, clothing factory CJSC "Pervomaiskaya Zarya"

comments:

co&beauty (accessories) (see befree)

CORSOCOMO

Depeche Mode

Finn Flare(Finland, 1965) brand bought by Russian businesswoman

Gee Jay(see Gloria Jeans)

Gloria Jeans(jeans, denim clothing, children's and adult knitwear)

legend: -

reality: Rostov businessman Vladimir Melnikov

production: Russia (Rostov)

comments: the origin of the company has never been hidden, on the contrary, it has been emphasized in every possible way, but the names are misleading

Gregory Arber(costumes)

legend: Italy, “we produce suits, jackets, trousers, coats, shirts and knitwear ourselves, and ties, belts and accessories are supplied to us by reputable and trusted suppliers in Italy”

reality: Ukraine (Odessa), late 90s

production: -

LOVE REPUBLIC(see befree)

Machiavelli(type Italy)

legend: Italy, "Italian brand with centuries-old traditions. Italian craftsmen have formed certain traditions that we honor and carefully preserve. Our history began in 1911, when the Meucci family opened its own production"

reality: Russia

production: Russia (Lobnya)

Motor(jeans)

legend: -

reality: Russia, Sergey Lushchov

production: Türkiye

OGGI/OODJI

legend: -

reality: Russia (St. Petersburg), "August Plus"

production: Russia (St. Petersburg), most of China

comments: the word oggi is the Italian word for “today,” so most customers consider the brand to be Italian. In 2010, OGGI changed its name to OODJI.

legend: USA

reality: Russia, "Sportmaster"

production: -

comments: other Sportmaster brands: Bone, Delamare, Demix, Outventure, Joss, Exxtasy, Termit, Protest, Nordway, Torneo sports equipment. All this is made in China.

Romano Botta

legend: Israel

reality: Russia, ~1992, Boris Ostrobrod and Arkady Pekarevsky

production: Russia (St. Petersburg), China, design department in Israel

comments: being a Russian brand, it fundamentally does not translate its slogan Feel The Same into Russian, which is already 10 years old, almost as old as the network itself. The name SELA means "rock" in Hebrew.

SPRINGFIELD(see befree)

TOM FARR

Tom Claim

VD One(costumes)

legend: England

reality: Ukraine, late 90s

production: -

Westland

women"secret(see befree)

ZARINA(see befree)

and dozens of others

Household appliances and electronics

AKAI(real Japanese brand died in 1999)

Assistant(calculators, translators)

legend: USA

reality: Ukraine (Kharkov)

production: China

legend: Germany

reality: Russia (Electroflot/Technopark network)

production: -

Elenberg

legend: -

reality: Russia (Elorado network)

production: -

Hyundai(has no relation to the car brand)

legend: Germany

reality: Russia, mid-90s, Pavel Loginov

production: Poland (at the Hansa plant)

Kentatsu

reality: Russia, 1995, MIPT graduate Sergei Belousov

production: assembly in Russia (at the plant in Fryazino, where LG is assembled), parts from Southeast Asia

comments: The company began by assembling LG TVs, then produced its own at the plant in Fryazino (parts were purchased in Southeast Asia). Rolsen's most successful sales were monitors and televisions, of which it produced 150 thousand and 240 thousand units per year, respectively. At the same plant in Fryazino near Moscow, all 20-, 21- and 25-inch LG TVs sold in Russia were made. Rolsen also bought the Rubin trademark along with a huge plant in Voronezh.

Scarlett

legend: England

reality: Russia, 1996, Arima Holding Corp., Sergey Mashukov

production: China, Southeast Asian countries

comments: named after Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler, because the target audience was seen by the founders of the brand as predominantly feminine, economic, but not alien to the classics of literature and romance

legend: -

reality: Russia (TehnoSila network)

production: -

legend: -

reality: Russia (Mir network)

production: -

legend: Hungary

reality: Russia (Moscow), Alexander Nazarov

production: countries of Southeast Asia

comments: Vigor from English vigorous – courageous, strong. Vigor commercial director Alexander Nazarov does not hide the fact that all their household appliances, like any other Russian company, are bought in the countries of Southeast Asia, assembled at the same factories and are often not just similar in appearance, but the same. “We come to the factories, look at what they offer us, choose the models we like and agree on the price for which they will put the name of our brand on the kettle,” he says. “It makes no sense to develop our own design: it’s expensive, and it doesn’t matter.” will be stolen."

legend: Austria

reality: Russia, 2000, Golder Electronics company, Andrey Derevyanchenko

production: China

comments: Vitek: vita in Latin means life, tech in the sense of technology. The Golder Electronics company, founded in 1993, is also the exclusive distributor of the Coolfort brand (since 2007), introduces the new Maxwell brand to the Russian market (since 2008), acquires the brand and unique technologies of the German company Rondell (Rondell GmbH has been operating in the professional cookware market since 1988 year), VITEK is one of the most recognizable brands in Russia, officially recognized as a “Well-known Trademark”, registered in more than 70 countries around the world

and dozens of others

Food and drink

Altstein(beer)

Bagbier(beer)

legend: -

reality: Russia, Ivan Bagnyuk

production: Russia (Omsk), Omsk brewery "Rossar"

Curtis & Patridge(tea)

legend: -

reality: May Company

production: -

Grand di Pasta(pasta)

legend: Italy

reality: -

production: Russia, belongs to the Makfa brand

Greenfield(tea)

legend: England, "The Orimi Trade company at its Nevskie Porogi factory began producing premium class tea under the Greenfield trademark by order of the English company Greenfield Tea Ltd. The Greenfield Tea company is convinced that tea should be packaged in packs in those countries where it is consumed. Specialists at Greenfield Tea Ltd. believe that the Russian plant near St. Petersburg has created excellent conditions for packaging tea and preserving its unique taste properties. Tea for the Greenfield collection is selected by experts from the best plantations in Ceylon, India and China, and is delivered to St. Petersburg port in sealed containers, and then, under the control of Greenfield Tea Ltd. specialists, they are packed into packs using special technology and without delay are supplied to the tea departments of Russian stores"

production: Russia (St. Petersburg), factory "Nevskie Porogi"

Many buyers do not even suspect that Russian manufacturers are actually hiding behind the big English and Italian names. This article is about the most important “pseudo” foreign brands.

Why do some Russian brands pretend to be foreign?

Here we are dealing with the conviction of the majority of Russians that foreign clothes and shoes (not counting China and Turkey) are always more fashionable and of better quality than domestic ones. This belief is not groundless. On the other hand, domestic producers, who know about the “special love” of Russians for everything foreign, take advantage of this. This is especially true for new brands formed after the 1990s.

First of all, brands take names that “sound” like Italian or American. There is nothing wrong with this fact in itself, and this is the case even in recognized fashion meccas, such as Italy. In particular, the Henry Cotton’s brand sounds English, is aimed at lovers of “English style”, but was founded in Italy in 1978. However, there is a big difference - they do not hide this fact. It’s just that the name is consonant with the style of the clothes they produce.

By the way, someone who would certainly benefit from rebranding is our Bolshevichka factory. It just sounds funny: “A businessman in a Bolshevik suit.” However, this is purely their business, at least they are not misleading anyone.

Three categories of Russian brands that pretend to be foreign

All brands that “pretend” to be foreign can be divided into three categories.

The first category includes those brands that do not hide their Russian origin and have only the name itself in a “foreign” language. It's like our Timati black star - no one doubts his origin.

The first category includes INCITY is a Russian fashion brand created in 2005. This is a chain of fashionable women's clothing stores owned by OJSC "Fashion Continent". Having taken a foreign name (which, by the way, does not clearly indicate the place of origin of the brand), this brand from the very beginning positions itself as Russian and does not experience any discomfort in connection with this. Just like the English language, having become de facto international, the name in English is both a tribute to fashion, a trend and simply a marketing ploy.

The same can be said about Henderson, a chain of men's clothing stores.

The second category of “Russian foreign brands” does not particularly hide the fact that other than the name, it has nothing in common with a foreign brand. However, people still buy such clothes and shoes, believing that “there is something foreign about it.” But such brands do not invent false creation stories, but simply modestly keep silent. At least on their official websites you will hardly find a clear indication that this is a Russian brand. Instead, they use such vague formulations as “such and such a company appeared on the Russian market in such and such a year.” Those. this phrase can also be interpreted to mean that the company entered the Russian market from abroad.

Below are examples of such companies with phrases as they themselves explain their origins on their websites.

The shoe brand Paolo Conte (Paolo Conte fashion, P.Cont) was “founded” in 2000; manufacturer of women's business clothing TOM KLAIM "founded" in 1993; the shoe company RALF RINGER “appeared on the Russian market” in 1996, the company “TERVOLINA” has “existed” on the market since 1992; O’STIN “began its activities in Russia” in 2003, SAVAGE “the history of the company begins” in 2000. Kamelot - “the first store opened in Moscow” in 1997. OGGI (renamed oodji since 2010) “oodji’s history begins” in 1998. Sela - “founded” in 1991, ZOLLA - “the ZOLLA brand began its history in Russia” in 2004 in Moscow, KANZLER - “For 18 years of work in Russia, KANZLER has earned the recognition of Russian men.”

The brand deserves special mention Mascotte, which belongs to the company Moscot Shoes LLC. Initially, they tried with all their might to create an image of a reputable English brand around the brand: until recently, the company’s website assured that its head office was located in London. But now all information has been removed from the site, leaving only the fact that in 2000 the Mascotte brand entered the Russian market by opening a representative office in Moscow. Inflated prices compared to Europe, low quality - if things continue like this, then buyers will already guess that this has nothing to do with England.

Third category- brands that mentally mislead the consumer regarding the origin of the brand itself and the places where their products are manufactured. For this purpose, “stories” of their creation are invented and if, for example, you go to their official website, you can even read this heart-warming story about “centuries-old traditions” and “genuine Italian (English, etc.) quality.” Even the logos of such brands are made so that the buyer has no doubt that he is really buying a foreign product and not some “Russian-Chinese” product.

And the person believes that this product is of high quality. Here we are dealing with the “placebo” effect, when a person is told that he has become the owner of a “prestigious” brand. Indeed, a person begins to “feel” the quality of this thing, and how it is “different” from domestic or, God forbid, Chinese production. And when, for example, shoes fall apart after 2 months, the person blames the Moscow slush and reagents, but not the manufacturer.

The third category includes such “brands” as Westland, TJ collection, Carlo Pazolini, FiNN FlARE, Fabio Paoloni, BGN. You should write about these brands in more detail because... these brands deliberately mislead buyers and I, as a professional shopper, want to open the eyes of my readers to these brands.

Westland

Official website of the brand Westland credits himself with the following story: “In 1930, brothers Walter and David Adams opened a small factory producing workwear in Chicago, Illinois. The case was called simply - W&D Adams Undertaking.”

However, in the USA no one has heard of such a company and such brothers. You can try searching for this brand using Google or Wikipedia. By the way, when I asked a question on their official website, “Where can I buy their brand in the USA,” the operator-consultant (there is such an online service) answered me: “Nowhere” and put a smiley face. My next question is “Why?” was simply ignored.

The quality of the clothes is average. But it’s worth mentioning about the prices: on average, they are twice as high as in the USA; for example, Levi’s jeans in the USA can be bought for $40.

TJ Collection

TJ Collection, which, as they write in press releases, “was created in the UK in 1992,” produces shoes under three brands: TJ Collection , Chester And Carnaby. They are all produced, judging by press releases, in “family shoe factories in Italy and Spain using manual labor.” TJ Collection is purchased by fashion-conscious middle-class women; Chester - lovers of high-quality classic shoes; Carnaby - youth. Only one thing surprised customers - when they went to England on business or on vacation, they tried to find a store of their favorite brand, nothing came of it. In fact, this brand was invented by a married couple from Moscow, and the name is derived from the first letters of their names Timur and Yulia. True, they now live in South Africa.

FiNN FLARE

Initially, the truly Finnish company was acquired by a Russian entrepreneur at the turn of the 2000s. Currently, the FiNN FLARE trademark is related to Finland only by its legal registration address. Neither production, nor design, nor quality control have anything to do with Europe, although the company actively exploits its origins in the formation of a solid Finnish image and, of course, an exorbitantly high price.

FiNN FLARE clothing and footwear are produced in Russia, China and Vietnam. The product quality is quite decent. The design is not for everyone, but it is always a matter of taste. The pricing policy gladly exploits the paradox of the Russian market: clothes that are quite ordinary for Europe cost as much here as in England and Italy products from world-famous designers.

Carlo Pazolini (bankrupt)

Shoe brand Carlo Pazolini actively positions itself as Italian, and by no means in the budget price segment. As indicated on Forbes.ru, the founder of the Carlo Pasolini company Ilya Reznik. In 1992, a thirty-year-old automotive engineer at the Moskvich plant, having earned a small capital from selling consumer electronics, ordered a batch of shoes from one of the factories in southern Italy. The logo for the brand Carlo Pazolini, which he invented, was developed by the young advertising agency Video International. in 1997, Reznik bought two shoe factories - in the village of Tuchkovo and the city of Kubinka, Moscow region. However, now more and more shoes are made in China, because... Labor is too expensive in Russia.
By the way, this is the only Russian brand that positions itself as Italian and at the same time has stores in Italy itself. For example, I personally know one store in the very center of Milan on Via Dante. (closed since 2016).

Fabio Paoloni

Under the brand Fabio Paoloni Men's clothing is produced: classic suits, shirts, outerwear. The logo itself contains the word Milano, giving an unambiguous hint of its noble origin. That is, this is a direct misrepresentation. Only Runet is filled with information about the Italian clothing brand Fabio Paoloni. There is not a single hint of it in the Italian segment of the Internet. Where are the clothes made and by whom? Fabio Paoloni one can only guess - on the official website there is no information at all about their origin.

BGN

As stated on the official website “The history of the BGN brand began in Paris. In 1999, following the first BGN gallery, located in the very center of Paris, the first store appeared in the Saint-Gemain des Près district, then in 2004 in the Le Marais quarter. In 2000, the first BGN store opened in Russia, then in Ukraine and Turkey. Every year the number of stores is constantly growing". However, there is not a single mention of this brand in the French segment of the Internet, so draw your own conclusion.

And in conclusion, I will say that if the quality and style of clothes and shoes are at a high level, then there is no need to hide behind a “foreign” brand, and if not, then this is not only a deception of consumers, but also damage to the business reputation of those countries that cover up pseudo-Italian and pseudo-American companies.

Stylist-shopper

Olesya Maranova

Syria before the start of the civil war produced more than 400 thousand barrels of oil per day. By 2013, this figure had dropped to 58 thousand, and now the country's leader Bashar al-Assad has only one option left - cooperation with Russia. According to the agreement that Moscow and Damascus signed in January, Russia received exclusive rights to oil and gas production in Syria, writes The C...

How Russia recruited an entire “fifth column” in a NATO country in one day

The Russian government has given another reason to recall the classic Russian myth about a good tsar and bad boyars, this time in connection with the Baltic states. On August 15, a Russian government delegation visited Riga, said a lot of positive things about expanding cooperation between the two countries, and even generously unfastened the Latvians three thousand extra...

Risen from the Cauldrons. How Ukraine is preparing for revenge in Donbass

After the collapse of the USSR, the Ukrainian army was considered one of the strongest in the world. It consisted of about 700 thousand military personnel, 8,700 tanks, 11 thousand infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, up to 20 thousand units of various types of artillery, approximately 1,100 aircraft. But taking into account the low threat of military conflicts and the weak economic capabilities of Ukraine, in a very short period of time the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decreased by almost seven...

Syria accused the US and Britain of supplying toxic substances to terrorists

DAMASCUS, August 16 - RIA Novosti, Mikhail Alaeddin. The toxic substances that were found in the warehouses left by the militants were delivered to terrorists from the United States and Great Britain, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad said at a press conference in Damascus. “All the special equipment found are hand grenades and shots for grenade launchers, which are equipped...

Putin instructed to transfer tariffs for stevedores to rubles instead of dollars from January 1

The head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Igor Artemyev, asked President Vladimir Putin to give the shareholders of the Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) an instruction to transfer tariffs for stevedores from dollars to rubles. Artemyev noted that at NCSP, tariffs for stevedores are still set in dollars, not rubles, and proposed to transfer them to the national va...

Friday get-togethers

I'm starting a new Friday weekly column to lift your spirits. :)1. We won’t recommend anything bad: 2. For Ermak! 3. Who can read it? 4. What's in your refrigerator? 5. I have it for lunch!!! 6. Oh, these women! 7. Everyone has such a friend...

Eurovision organizers threatened Kyiv with moving the competition to Berlin

Director General of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Ingrid Deltenre, in a conversation with pranksters Alexey Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov (Vovan and Lexus), said that Kiev, because of its position on the Eurovision participant from Russia, may lose the right to host the competition, in which case the country – Germany will become the host of Eurovision. Prankers in conversation with Deltenre...

10 officials who received bribes worth more than 10 billion rubles

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on his resignation due to the loss of confidence of the head of Udmurtia, Alexander Solovyov. According to investigators, the head of the region received bribes totaling 139 million rubles from organizations that were involved in the construction of bridges across the Kama and Bui. How large is this bribe considered and what records of greed were set by corrupt...

Lukashenko began to accept the reality of new relations with Russia

Belarus agreed to pay off its “gas debt” to Russia – the same one that it stubbornly refused to even recognize. However, behind the financial dispute lies a much more complex process: the Kremlin is transferring Minsk - the last of all Russian neighbors - from the principle of “brotherly peoples” to the principle of strictly mutually beneficial cooperation. The meeting of the presidents of Russia and Belarus...

Lightning!!! Tymoshenko and Lyovochkin flew to Washington to negotiate the liquidation of Poroshenko

Trump responded to the Donbass coal blockade, but not quite in the way President Poroshenko expected. Instead of strengthening sanctions against the Russian Federation, Washington urgently summoned the Tiger. It seems that Tymoshenko is being suddenly and ahead of schedule being prepared to replace Peter. In what form will the ex-prime minister's appearance on Olympus take place? Mystery. So far, all that is known is that Tymoshenko has left...

Media: Putin's new fleet threatens the existence of the West

Former NATO commanders warn the alliance of the risk of losing control of the seas and sabotage involving “little blue sailors.” The Kremlin is building up its military capabilities and modernizing its fleet to stop the free movement of NATO ships and generally threaten the existence of the West (existential risk to the West). Anal came to this opinion...

Kyiv was left all alone

Publicist Nikita Podgornov talks about how Petro Poroshenko is trying to find allies in order to confront Russia. Petro Poroshenko urgently needs allies in his Donbass adventure. But so far, all of Kyiv’s actions to escalate the conflict in the East of Ukraine only lead to strengthening the positions of the DPR and LPR. And President Poroshenko is entrepreneurial in strengthening his position...

Akhmetov refused to pay taxes in Donbass.

Akhmetov’s company issued a statement regarding the events in the temporarily uncontrolled territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. This is stated on the official website of SCM. Statement by SCM Group regarding events in the temporarily uncontrolled territory of Donetsk and Lugansk regions (NKT) SCM Group has always worked and continues to work exclusively within the Ukrainian...

Russia is changing its approach to Donbass: “This time everything will be different”

In recent weeks, it has become obvious: Russia has begun an active game in Ukraine. The unexpectedly harsh military response of Donbass to Ukrainian aggression was not an isolated action. It was followed by a prompt decision to force Ukrainian enterprises to pay taxes to the budget of the people's republics, and a large-scale humanitarian program of assistance to the occupied part of Donbass was announced. About...

On the night of the end of the ultimatum for Kyiv, the lights were turned on at the Donbass Arena.

During all three years of the civil war in Ukraine, the stadium was plunged into darkness. On the night of March 1, when the deadline set by the head of the DPR for the Ukrainian authorities to lift the economic blockade should expire, the lights were turned on at the famous Donbass Arena stadium. Over the past three years, the arena, which hosted matches of the 2012 European Football Championship, was ...

“Real Italian shoes” from China and other tricks of Russian marketers ">“ Real Italian shoes" from China and other tricks of Russian marketers " alt=" “Werewolf brands.” 7 Russian brands that are ashamed of their origin “Real Italian shoes” from China and other tricks of Russian marketers!}">

The currently fashionable topic of import substitution haunts both politicians of all stripes and enterprising citizens who are taking advantage of the moment to try to absorb budget money for the good purpose of ousting foreign competitors from various markets. Many of them are unaware that so-called “werewolf brands” of domestic tailoring have been operating in Russia for a long time, successfully masquerading as large foreign companies

However, as practice shows, these brands more often resemble that girl who was successfully taken out of the village, while forgetting to take that very village out of her. It’s the same with manufacturers, no matter how much effort marketers put in, it’s still quite difficult to hide the real origin. We decided not to look far for examples, but simply present them in this post...

Stores of this brand are usually located in large shopping centers. Mannequins dressed like Harry Potter's classmates hint at the aristocratic roots of this brand. Pseudo-English plaid trousers of a classic cut and club jackets actually have the same relation to England as Baba Yaga to Hogwarts.

To be fair, it should be noted that the brand has never tried to hide the fact that it has nothing in common with foreign countries, except for the spectacular name and the fact that some of the clothes are made in China, Portugal and sometimes in Italy.

A television quiz called “Own Game,” where smart guys and other Wassermans fight fiercely for the opportunity to become the owner of unique stationery from Erich Krause, did a lot to popularize the brand in Russia. It would seem, why would these serious men push each other’s intellects for the sake of a box of cheap paper clips? They don’t spare each other for the sake of “imported” stationery! In fact, everything is much more prosaic...

All products, from pencils to expensive pens, are produced under the strict control of the Russian company Office Premier. Moreover, since 1994. And what’s most interesting is that the manufacturer didn’t really try to hide it. And the fact that buyers themselves shell out money for a beautiful name is their problem.

Seeing the richly decorated windows of this chain of stores, many buyers imagine a certain elderly Italian shoemaker named Carlo, who, without sparing his belly for days on end, makes shoes by hand, which the damned capitalists then “sell at exorbitant prices” to visitors of shopping centers.

In fact, there are thousands of such shoemakers and they never had people with European names in their family. They were born and work in China producing shoes for a Russian shoe brand, the founders of which decided that the Italian name would please the ears of the buyer, who firmly believes that only Riga sprats can be better than Italian shoes.

Looking at the dull landscape outside the window, filled with universal melancholy and houses of the same type, the average Russian citizen brews a bag of tea with a foreign name. At this moment, he is mentally transported to the shores of Foggy Albion, where people like him leisurely stroll along the cobbled streets, enjoying the leisurely and calm life of European aristocrats.

Alas, harsh reality takes us to the city of St. Petersburg, whose natives registered the company GreenField Ltd in 2003 with an office in England. Moreover, it was registered by the tea manufacturer "Orimi Trade". Unlike the previous heroes of this post, the guys from Green Field can confidently claim that their company is English and easily reject all claims about the Russian origin of the brand.

BORK

Here we must pay tribute to the company’s marketers. They did their best and did everything to ensure that their brand was perceived as something “made in Germany”. Moreover, quality and a completely adequate price tag organically contribute to this picture.

In fact, this brand belongs to the Russian company Electroflot, which is good news during the period of fashion for “import substitution”.

One of the favorite brands of provincial oligarchs, who like to emphasize that they dress in Kanzler, in fact has nothing in common with either Angela Merkel or her power-holding predecessors. Despite the beautiful German name of the brand and quite decent quality, this brand has Russian roots.

To be more precise, there is every reason to believe that the brand grew out of the Elegant chain of stores, whose managers realized in time that a “werewolf brand” in the hands is better than “Elegant” in the sky...

VITEK

Well, for dessert, in this list we decided to include a brand with, perhaps, the most interesting name. It is a mistake to believe that a certain Vitek gave the name to the brand, although this is exactly how most consumers pronounce it. In fact, the brand name comes from the Latin word vita, meaning “life,” and the English word tech, cleverly shortened to tek.

The company is registered in Austria, produces equipment in China, and the management is located in Russia, which is clearly confirmed by the consumer characteristics of the equipment, giving reason to believe that after all, a certain Victor made a significant contribution to the development and positioning of the brand.

Have you ever thought that not all modern clothing companies that position themselves as authentic with almost half a century of history actually are so? In this review we will talk about “pseudo-Italian” labels, which in fact are nothing more than a clever marketing ploy that hides the real country of origin of the products they offer.

The first thing that needs to be mentioned when starting a story about Italian pseudo-brands is that the products they offer do not necessarily have to be bad and of poor quality. Yes, by inventing a beautiful but illusory story for their company, its management is deceiving its customers in advance. But, as practice shows, such measures are taken only because the current client is not interested in purchasing goods from a domestic manufacturer. Most are absolutely sure that the label on clothing “” is an indestructible guarantee of quality and practicality.

So, we have figured out why pseudo-Italian brands arise, now we will find out exactly how this happens. This is done according to a very primitive scheme:

  1. A company is registered in Italy, which gives rise to its beautiful and euphonious foreign name;
  2. Then the address of its head office, headquarters, is registered, and it is not at all necessary that the office will be located there in reality.

Although the company’s addresses and documents are nominally Italian, its management is Russian or Ukrainian, and under “Italian” it offers customers goods that were actually made either in China, or in Russia, or in Turkey (depending on where it is cheaper).

Dear reader, to find an answer to any question about holidays in Italy, use. I answer all questions in the comments under the relevant articles at least once a day. Your guide in Italy Artur Yakutsevich.

When the shoes or clothes are ready, and all technical issues have been resolved, all that remains is to correctly present the products to the public. Here a team of PR agents and advertising specialists gets involved and comes up with a beautiful, attention-grabbing story for the newly created brand. All of the above procedures are aimed at achieving one goal - to sell a product at more than its real value. After all, you must admit that you are willing to pay much more for a real branded Italian item than for something similar to it, but from a domestic manufacturer.

Classification of pseudo-brands

All domestic clothing brands that position themselves as brands of Italian origin can be conditionally divided into three types.

  1. The first type is represented by brands that, although they do not advertise much, do not hide their real origin, and among the Italian attributes they only have a foreign name. Almost all modern Russian/Ukrainian labels can be classified as this type.
    One of the brightest representatives of the first type is the women's clothing chain store INCITY.
  2. The second type includes those labels that talk about their homeland in a very veiled way. Starting the story about the process of development and formation, they meekly report that “the company appeared on the Russian market in such and such a year...”. Such words can be interpreted in different ways, and most people mean by them that at this time stores of this brand began to open in Russia, having previously gained success abroad. Such companies include, for example, Paolo Conte.
  3. The third type is pseudo-brands that deliberately mislead the client into believing false information. They come up with beautiful legends and stories telling about the creation of the company, its long and thorny path to becoming on the world stage, “true Italian” quality, long-term traditions, etc.

At first glance, nothing can give away this type of pseudo-brand. Everything in it, from the official website to the company logo, is created in such a way that the buyer has no doubt about the real homeland of the label. Such brands are especially dangerous because when you buy an expensive Italian item, you end up getting a low-quality product of domestic or Chinese production.

Review of Italian pseudo-brands

D.Polgri

D.Polgri is a fairly well-known chain of casual clothing stores for men. The brand does not invent any special legends regarding its true Italian origin, but the name and its general concept correspond to the “Italian” principle. The quality of the products offered is not bad, but the price is slightly high.

This company supplies office-style clothing for men to the Russian market. Despite its true Turkish origin, the company's official website is replete with news about the preservation of the exceptional traditions of Italian craftsmen and their unique style in costumes. The quality to price ratio is quite good.

Giovane Gentile - although the brand has a bright and sonorous name, clearly of Italian origin, it is entirely Turkish. The official online store contains contact information for the true owner of Ergem Tekstil, but the homeland of the goods produced is still not widely advertised. Giovane Gentile retail outlets are located in a number of eastern and western European countries, but items from the label cannot be found in Italy itself.

Henderson

Henderson is a well-known brand in Russia that represents high quality clothing. Although the real country of origin is not kept secret (in order to obtain information in this regard, you just need to visit the official website of the store), collections and advertising campaigns somehow unobtrusively allow customers to believe that in fact, the homeland of the company could be Italy or England.

The brand's clothing factories are concentrated in China and Portugal. Costume models are developed in close partnership with leading European designers.

Henderson offers truly high-quality clothing at reasonable prices.

Rico Ponti

The company's name clearly hints at its Italian roots, but the entire management team is concentrated in Russia. It is difficult to draw any clear conclusions from the information presented on the official portal.

Vassa&Co

Despite the name typical for Italian companies, it is of Russian origin. This information is available on the website of the official online store, and it is quite easy to obtain it: just visit the corresponding section “About the company”.

This is a fairly well-known brand of office-style clothing for men, positioning itself as a true Italian brand. In fact, all of the company's products are manufactured in Poland, where its headquarters are located.

On the website of the official online store, it is quite difficult to find information regarding the origin of Albione; no monosyllabic data is presented on it, however, if you study the “Points of Sales” section, you can see only Russian and Polish addresses in it.

The ratio of quality and price is not the most pleasant; the starting price of the suit is 20 thousand.

Alessandro Manzoni

In fact, the brand belongs to a large domestic concern “Lady and Gentleman city”. On the official website it is written in black and white that the products produced are distinguished by genuine Italian quality and sophistication, excellent style, and this is followed by the same legendary story telling about the origin of the company in Lombardy in 1989.

But all the official data and documents completely refute the stated fable, presenting a certain Andrei Mikhailov as the responsible person, and Moscow as the place of registration of the enterprise.

Antonio Meneghetti

The company is an ardent representative of pseudo-Italian brands. Its creators actively promote the information that the design of each clothing model is the result of the creativity of the Italian genius, Antonio Meneghetti. In reality, stores of this label are open only in Russian and Ukrainian cities, and in Europe it is completely unknown.

De Rossi

Another pseudo-Italian brand specializing in the production of pajamas, shirts and underwear.

The price-quality ratio is not very pleasant; most products exceed the price threshold of 5-7 thousand.

There is no reliable information on the Internet regarding the country of origin of De Rossi clothing, and customer reviews are very contradictory.

Diplomat is a popular chain of luxury clothing stores in Russia, the products of which are mainly represented by two brands Berger and A. Falkoni. According to the legend, actively promoted by the store's sellers and existing advertising campaigns, the latter is entirely Italian.

In fact, no one has heard of these brands in Western European countries, which allows us to conclude that, most likely, clothing collections are developed and sewn in Turkey.

Fabio Paoloni is a chain of stores open throughout Russia. The company is being promoted as a long-standing Italian brand. On the official website, however, there is no reliable information regarding the country of origin.

The price-quality ratio is poor. Most products cost much more than similar domestic options, and the quality, according to reviews, leaves much to be desired.

Fratelli M

Another pseudo-Italian menswear brand is Fratelli M. Its official website operates in a bilingual format: Russian and Italian, and the domain chosen is also Russian. In the “Stores” section on the map, although there is a large number of circles scattered throughout Europe, in reality you can only get real addresses of retail outlets in Russia.

Giovanni Botticelli

The brand’s website can be presented in three languages: Italian, English and Russian. In the “Stores” section you can find exclusively Russian addresses of boutiques, which allows us to conclude that this brand is also a “fake” and has nothing to do with Italy.

The prices are not that affordable. For example, an ordinary basic tie can cost 1.5 thousand rubles. There is no point in saying anything about quality, since the reviews are very contradictory.

Zolla

Zolla is a domestic company for sewing and producing casual women's clothing. The company’s employees have absolutely no intention of lying about the true origin of the brand, but because of the name, a huge number of customers firmly believe that they can buy real Italian things in the Zolla store.

Incanto

Incanto is one of the most famous brands of underwear, pajamas and shirts in Russia. The company's employees diligently try to hide its real origin, doing their best to disguise the label as Italian. Although the official online store has a European domain, the server itself is located in the Russian Federation, which raises some suspicions.

It was not possible to find any information about Incanto products on foreign websites.

Meucci

Meucci is a fairly large label, which, according to the official version, produces real Italian clothes of high quality. In reality, the products of this pseudo-brand are manufactured at a domestic factory, which is located in the provincial town of Lobnya, in the Moscow region.

Meucci prices are high, completely inconsistent with the quality of the products.

Mia-mia

Another company producing women's underwear, self-proclaimed to be a real Italian brand. According to customer reviews, it is impossible to give an unambiguous assessment of the product, since they are inconsistent.

Prices are not affordable, and therefore the company arouses even more suspicion.

Orsa

This chain of stores is another company that is part of the Lady & Gentleman city concern., and therefore there is no need to argue about the truth of its Italian origin.

Orsa is another pseudo-brand offering products of not very decent quality at inflated prices.

Roberto Bruno

This is a label similar to the aforementioned Meucci. Although the official version talks about its almost half-century Italian history, in reality there is no reliable information that would confirm the origin of the company. The site domain is Russian.

Simoni is a fairly widespread men's clothing label in Russia, specializing in the production of business suits. Although the information presented on the official portal speaks of the company’s Italian roots, no one in Italy itself has ever heard of it. Retail outlets are located exclusively on the territory of the Russian Federation.

↘️🇮🇹 USEFUL ARTICLES AND SITES 🇮🇹↙️ SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Did you like the article? Share it