The Gosha Rubchinskiy Brand Begins (2008)
Gosha Rubchinskiy founded his namesake label in 2008. The brand shed a light on Post-Soviet Russia by leaning into youth-driven subcultures like football and the rave scene. He hosted runway shows in abandoned buildings in the Moscow suburbs and filmed video campaigns in St. Petersburg. His debut collection was titled “Evil Empire,” a nod to Ronald Reagan’s nickname for the USSR during the Cold War. The brand’s unique point of view caught the attention of his home country, so much so that Rubchinskiy struggled to meet the early demand and had to stop producing seasonal collections for a short period of time. In 2012, he got some much needed assistance, officially partnering with president of Comme des Garçons International and chief executive officer of Dover Street Market Adrian Joffe, who began backing the brand and helping with manufacturing and distributing.
The Brand’s Rise in Popularity (2012-2018)
With the backing and infrastructure of Joffe and Comme des Garçons, Rubchinskiy was able to ascend in the fashion world at a rapid pace. Boutiques like Dover Street Market and Union Los Angeles began stocking the collections. Rubchinskiy made his Paris Fashion Week debut in 2014 and became celebrated for his ability to appeal to a wide range of consumers by mixing classic sportswear sensibilities with the world of high fashion. One of his first big moments for more mainstream audiences came in 2015, when ASAP Rocky hit the stage of the MTV VMAs in a hoodie from the brand featuring a fusion of the Russian and Chinese flags, a riff on the iconic Tommy Hilfiger flag logo that would become one of his brand’s signatures.
Throughout the 2010s, his profile would only continue to rise. He inked a long-term partnership with Adidas that included football kits, vibrant windbreakers, and even resulted in this viral hair style from a Fall/Winter 2018–2019 runway presentation. Other collaborators included Vans, Reebok, Fila, and Levi’s. His Spring/Summer 2018 presentation debuted a monumental partnership with Burberry that ultimately would release in July 2018.
In an effort to create more affordable offerings, he launched Rassvet, a skate-influenced diffusion label with skateboarder Tolya Titaev in 2016, and even collaborated with Urban Outfitters on a series of graphic apparel in 2017.
Rubchinskiy Announces His Self-Titled Brand Will Be Ending (2018)
In April 2018, Rubchinskiy officially announced through a now-deleted post on Instagram that his namesake brand would be ending “as you’ve known it.” In a conversation with Vogue France following the announcement, Rubchinksiy stated, “I realized that I didn’t enjoy working on the brand as much as I had over these past ten years. I’m not interested in it anymore. Now I want to focus on other projects, especially in the art world.”
He continued to release product through Rassvet and launched his new label, GR-Uniforma, in March 2019 through Dover Street Market.
Allegations Derail the Designer’s Career (2018)
Eight months after Rubchinskiy announced the end of his label, allegations surfaced against the designer. Text messages leaked between Rubchinskiy and a 16-year-old model, Jan Silfverling, wherein Rubchinskiy was requesting inappropriate photographs. Rubchinskiy has denied the allegations made against him. A statement provided to Hypebeast by the designer’s team stated, “This was a street casting for a lookbook shoot. The person sent a direct mail to us asking to be considered for the casting. This happens all the time…Gosha did a face time with him, and then he asked for a photo to have on file with all the others. The person said he wasn’t alone and couldn’t take a photo, so Gosha suggested he just quickly goes to the bathroom and take a quick photo on the mirror, so he could show the rest of the team and have it on file. This exchange as depicted on the Instagram post of Supreme leaks news has been altered and taken out of context. It is clear there has been modifications and deletions to make it look bad where in fact it was a simple request for a photo to facilitate the street casting. The person started contacting us very often demanding an answer about the casting and became a bit weird. So Gosha blocked him, and we think this is why the person is trying to make Gosha look bad, and turn what was a totally innocent street casting look something that it was not. We have been doing such direct street casting for ten years, and we have never had such a problem, therefore this is invalid.”
Joffe also made a statement following the accusations in 2019 telling WWD, “We continue to support Gosha due to the complete lack of any evidence that he abused his power or did anything illegal. There is hardly any more real street casting these days. Many, many people use social media for casting now. We believe that one should be innocent until proven guilty, and that proper fact-checking should be the standard procedure.The lack of it is really dangerous and as abhorrent as the abuse of power itself.”
Despite the accusations never being proven, Rubchinskiy’s public reputation hasn’t been able to fully bounce back.
Rubchinskiy Announces Revival of Namesake Label (2023)
Following a five-year hiatus, Rubchinskiy announced that his namesake label would be revived in the near future. The Gosha Rubchinskiy Instagram account posted a statement on its story that on Dec. 13 that read, “WE'RE DELIGHTED TO INTRODUCE THE NEW DIRECTION OF THE GOSHA RUBCHINSKIY FASHION BRAND AS AN INDEPENDENT CREATIVE POWERHOUSE. STEPPING AWAY FROM THE COMME DES GARÇONS AND RASSVET FAMILY, OUR BRAND IS FORGING ITS OWN PATH. UNDER GOSHA'S CREATIVE LEADERSHIP WE ARE SET TO EMBRACE EXCITING NEW PROJECTS AND COLLABORATIONS THAT EMBODY OUR SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE AND CREATIVE DRIVE. WE'RE THANKFUL FOR THE CONTINUOUS SUPPORT FROM OUR COMMUNITY THAT FUELS OUR JOURNEY.”
Named Yeezy Head of Design (2023)
The same day Rubchinskiy announced his namesake label would be revived, Kanye West returned to X to officially name Rubchinskiy as the new Yeezy head of design. Rubchinskiy is also behind the cover art and merch for Ye and Ty Dolla Sign’s upcoming album, Vultures. The official statement published to Ye’s mobile news site, Yews, read, “The arrival of this legendary Russian designer at YEEZY, the pre-eminent global brand in music and fashion, is a milestone in design history.”
The initial reactions have been mixed with many resurfacing the allegations against Rubchinskiy to question the decision. This wouldn’t be the first time we have seen Ye align himself with disgraced creatives. His Donda rollout in 2021 prominently featured rock star Marilyn Manson, who was accused of rape and sexual abuse that same year. It has also been reported that Los Angeles Apparel founder Dov Charney, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, has been helping with Yeezy.