So much for Kira Plastinina’s US invasion.
The 16-year-old Russian fashion designer – who opened a dozen stores in the US last year in an $80 million expansion bankrolled by her oligarch father – is set to liquidate all of them and retreat from the country, according to court records.
KP Fashion Co., a US subsidiary that had sought to grow the 11th grader’s budding fashion empire beyond its base of more than 70 stores in Eastern Europe, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 31 in US Bankruptcy court in Manhattan.
“I’ve been working really hard, and am very proud of myself for keeping my determination and being able to work and accomplish so much at my young age,” Plastinina said on a MySpace page linked to the company’s US Web site before the bankruptcy filing.
As recently as September, Time magazine had proclaimed Plastinina “sweet 16 and already a success – running a global fashion brand.”
But Plastinina’s father Sergei Plastinin – who, having cornered Russia’s dairy and juice markets, amassed a fortune recently estimated at $600 million – signaled last month that a liquidation was coming for the US stores.
He blamed the credit crisis, but also admitted that shoppers were dwindling at his daughter’s boutiques in key US markets like Manhattan and Los Angeles.
“We have to live through the crisis and see what happens next before making any decisions,” Plastinin said last month.
Obsessed with generating buzz, Plastinin spent lavishly – paying a reported $2 million to Paris Hilton to attend his daughter’s runway show. Last month, he flew Nicole Richie to Moscow for the opening of an in-store shop at Tsum department store, provoking a frenzy among the paparazzi.
Plastinina – whose signature logo features a glittery heart dotting the “I” in “Kira” – launched the first of three Manhattan stores in May, with locations in SoHo, Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street.
Outside New York and Los Angeles, there are Kira Plastinina stores in nearby Paramus, NJ, and Stamford, Conn., in addition to an outlet in Las Vegas.
In its bankruptcy filing, the US subsidiary listed $9.7 million in assets and $54.4 million in liabilities. Its biggest creditor, owed $29.9 million, is Lendero Ltd., a Cyprus company controlled by Plastinin.
On the company’s US Web site, nearly all merchandise was marked down 75 percent. A batwing jersey tunic, advertised as a “new arrival,” was selling for $14.50, down from $58.
“All sales are final,” according to the site. “No returns or exchanges will be accepted.” james.covert@nypost.com