BOOKISH CROWD: Dozens of fans lined up in the courtyard of the Comme des Garçons shop on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré for the launch of Gosha Rubchinskiy’s third photography book.
Published in a limited edition of 1,000, “The Day of My Death” features black-and-white photographs of Florence and was produced alongside a short film to accompany the men’s collection he showed at the Pitti Uomo trade show. The project was inspired by murdered Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe dropped in to check on their protégé. Fellow designers Demna Gvasalia, Virgil Abloh and Rick Owens also came, as did Chloë Sevigny, Ricky Saiz, Heron Preston and Paul Hameline. The book, published by the IDEA imprint, is styled by Lotta Volkova, who appears as a character alongside brothers Titouan and Louison Savignoni and Ivan Pogornyi.
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Rubchinskiy shot the pictures in industrial and government buildings in Florence, finding parallels between Mussolini’s Italy and Soviet Russia. “The questions I am asking are: What is Europe now? Are countries together or separated? What is global and what is unique?” he said in a statement.
The designer elaborated on that idea at the book signing, which came just a day after Britain’s vote to exit the European Union. “I think Europe needs to connect with Russia more. I don’t like the isolation of Russia against the world. I want Russia connected with Europe, I want Britain connected to Europe. I think it’s better when we speak with each other than being isolated and be alone or be angry and have fear,” Rubchinskiy said.
The designer casts his shows on Instagram, bringing together teenagers from as far afield as Europe, the United States and Australia. “They know each other already by Instagram and the first time they met at our show, it was great how they were excited to see each other,” he noted. “They are in the same mood, listen to the same music, wear the same Gosha or Supreme. I think it’s great. It’s the new way. Of course, they are the same, but all of them have their identity.”