A fashion maker and chronicler comfortable in multiple media, Gosha Rubchinskiy plans to cap off his spring 2017 show on June 15 at Pitti Uomo by screening a short film, and unveiling a limited-edition photo book.
While he’s keeping a tight lid on details, the Moscow-based designer said all three are “about my reflection on Italian culture, from great artists like [Pier Paolo] Pasolini to iconic Italian sportswear. At the same time, it is very about the moment and very ‘Gosha.'”
Titled “The Day of My Death,” the book will be sold at Dover Street Market, fashion emporiums controlled by Comme des Garçons and through distributor Idea Books. Images from the tome and film are also to be exhibited through the duration of the fair, taking place in Florence June 14 to 17.
Rubchinskiy’s Italian spectacle comes at an explosive time for his men’s wear collection, which started in 2008 with a few T-shirts he produced in Serbia, until that manufacturer went bust and Adrian Joffe, chief executive officer of Comme des Garçons International, came to his rescue. Comme now produces and distributes Rubchinskiy’s collections.
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While declining to give figures, Joffe said Rubchinskiy’s business more than tripled last year and his Nineties-tinged, Eastern Bloc shorts, sweats, T-shirts, warm-up suits and shirts peppered with Cyrillic slogans are carried in some 200 doors worldwide, including two shops-in-shop at Dover Street Market.
“Unbelievable. It suddenly took off,” marveled Joffe, who discovered Rubchinskiy via his photography, describing him as an expert at documenting youth culture, particularly the skateboard scene, and translating it into streetwear.
The executive credits Rubchinskiy’s eclectic Instagram account — which has garnered 128,000 followers and counting — for fanning his popularity. The designer typically posts only a handful of images — verdant parks one day, Orthodox churches the next — and then deletes to start anew. Rubchinskiy also uses Instagram as a tool. Word has it he found all his models for the Florence show on the platform.
Comme des Garçons has a legacy of incubating promising designers, including the likes of Andre Walker and Ganyru. Now, with Joffe’s encouragement, Rubchinskiy is carrying the torch and will house the first collection of one of his skateboarder friends, Valentin Fufaev, at the Dover Street Shops. The line will reach stores June 10 under a mouthwatering and evocative moniker: Doublecheeseburger.
SHOW AT A GLANCE
Pitti Immagine Uomo
Fortezza da Basso, Florence, Italy
June 14 to 16, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
June 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Pittimmagine.com
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