Gosha Rubchinskiy, the Russian designer who rose to prominence with post-Soviet 2010s streetwear before being derailed by allegations of soliciting inappropriate images from minors, has re-launched his namesake brand.
Rubchinskiy, who previously shuttered his eponymous label in 2018, told The Business of Fashion that he’s ready to “start everything anew.” A range of basics such as T-shirts, sweatpants, backpacks, hoodies and bomber jackets is already up for sale on the brand’s web store. A more complete launch that will include items such as jeans and coats is scheduled for the end of the month, and over time Rubchinskiy said the offering will expand to “complex designer plays” and womenswear. He is even toying with the idea of couture.
“The analogy to draw here would be we’re building a house,” Rubchinskiy said in an interview via a translator. “You start with the foundations. That is why we decided to start with a fairly basic line, and then, little by little, build up to something more extended.”
Rubchinskiy said the brand will be financed with capital he accumulated from his previous work and with support from friends, describing it as a “collective venture.”
He also said it will have a dedicated casting director who will work with models and agencies. In 2018, a few months after Rubchinskiy announced the closure of his brand, a 16-year-old boy publicly accused the designer of having pressured him to send explicit photos online. Rubchinskiy has always denied the allegations, maintaining that his comments were misconstrued and that his actions were part of the brand’s normal casting process.
“I was perhaps naive thinking that [model casting] can be done via text messages,” said Rubchinskiy. “Because now I see that if you write a message, it’s easy to edit and to take out of context. But if you were to have a live casting with your team present, then of course the whole thing would be quite different, hence the change in our casting policy.”
Rubchinskiy founded his label in 2008, eventually gaining the notice of Dover Street Market and Comme des Garçons, which came to operate the business and own its trademarks. He parted ways with Comme des Garçons, as well as the Rassvet skateboard label he had co-founded, in 2022, and the following year announced plans to revitalise his brand.
Then, the designer had re-emerged as the head of design for Yeezy, the fashion label founded by controversial rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West), who had lost his multi-year Adidas partnership due to anti-semitic comments in 2022. Rubchinskiy departed Yeezy this February.
Rubchinskiy said his brand will continue selling its basic items directly to consumers online but plans to work with multi-brand retailers again on special collections and is considering opening boutiques. He has no intention of joining the traditional fashion week calendar. Instead of staging runway shows, the brand, which had stopped releasing seasonal collections in its previous iteration, plans to go on a “small world tour” in countries such as China, Japan and the US.
“The idea is to meet my fans face to face and put up various cultural events related to music, fashion, photography, video and my other interests,” said Rubchinsky, who also aims to release a book of photographs collected over the past two decades by the end of the year.
Additional reporting by Marc Bain.