Kira Plastinina Files For Bankruptcy

It is a moderately cold day, not sure the exact date but it is sometime in December, I know for sure its Friday. Me and my roommate Zena will often take a day no matter the weather to head down to SoHo grab a bite to eat from our favorite Cuban restaurant "La Esquina" and do some mild shopping (this is how we bond). This day was no different, we usually hit up the same stores, Urban, Kira P., H&M. We always take the D train to BWay + Lafayette, with such energy we glide up the steps to our favorite spot in NYC SoHo, right at the corner of Broadway and Houston we go, walking South down BWay I see a "50% off everything, entire store" sign written in bright pink chalk outside Kira P. So me, loving her cute clothing, rushes in and I find some great deals. I get a pair of patent leather ankle booties and this cute little pink bubble skirt. In the back of my mind, I am asking myself why is everything in the store half off. I jokingly mention to Zena who is trying on clothes, "They've gotta be going out of business". I quickly respond by saying "I'm kidding". We chat with the few employees in this 3 story store who don't seem to be as happy as we are to be getting such great deals. We whisk away bags in hand to continue onto Forever 21...

I take my buddy Erika to Kira P. a week later, where there is that faithful sign again, but this time it says "70% of entire store until Sunday"! Luckily I had my receipt with me and I was able to get my boots and skirt price adjusted! None-the-less neither Erika or I saw anything we wanted, so we proceeded to H&M...

I am shopped out and on my way to Texas, I am there for Two weeks. I get back to NY New Year's Eve, mad that its so cold here...

Now speed you up to current January 15, 2009. Zena and I are in SOHO, its cold as frozen Lima beans out, but yes we in SOHO! We walk pass Kira P., the lights are out, that same chalk board sign is now sitting locked behind the glass door, no longer does it read "sale", it now reads "Out of Business", in the same pink chalk!

So apparently the buzz is that Kira the 16 year old designer from Russia who has over 40 stores there, was not such a big hit in the US. With two stores in NYC And the other ten spread across California, the Fashionista's saw nothing above or beyond extraordinary about her designs. Her Father who is one of Russia's wealthiest businessmen, making a name for himself in the dairy industry. Has put up over 100 million into his daughters dreams of being the youngest designer with a chain of stores. Sadly, he now owes investor's 54 million dollars, which due to the lack of interest in the clothing, the economic woes of post 9-11, opening 12 stores in under 2 years with no increasing revenue is forcing Mr. Plastinina to shut down all US stores. I am a little sad, only because Fashion is my passion and I know how hard it is to live your dream, and have others not feed into it as you'd like them to. However, Kira is young, she can bounce back from this, if she has the courage.

I own a few items from the store, and I can honestly say, when the store opened in Spring 08' I thought it would be a hit. However the fall/winter designs were not as cute or different from anything we get for much less at H&M or Forever.

I believe the website isn't shutting down. Just click the tittle of this post.
FASHION IS NOT FASHION UNLESS IT'S WORN/SEEN IN THE STREETS! _CoCo Chanel