#Opinion GOSHA RUBCHINSKIY : POSTMODERN SKATEWEAR OR A NOTHER OVERHYPED MASS PRODUCT BRAND?

Well, this is actually one of my University projects. I was supposed to review a postmodern object or a collection in two parts. In the First part I had to pretend that I am an author of the product or the collection and had to sell it in the best way. And the second one is the part when I had to review this in the most sceptical way and try to find as much constructive critique as I could. Hope you will find it interesting.

SECTION ONE

My name is Georgi Aleksandrovich Rubchinskiy. My friends call me Gosha. I was born on the 29th of July 1984 in Moscow. After a couple of years in Arts school and working as a hairdresser for Tony&Guy I realised that making clothes is my truly passion. For this season(Spring/Summer 2016) in mt collection “1984” I kept taking inspiration close to home. Russian culture, art and the anti utopian novel by George Orwell were the main figures that guided me during making this collection. The t-shirts with the year of 1984 marked out in square red letters draw a link between the famous totalitarian fictional society ruled by propaganda. Soviet  sports and physical education propaganda during the 1980s was presented mostly in art posters by pioneering photographer Alexander Rodchenko.This was one of the most iconic Soviet Russian ways to influence people to become part of a well educated and healthy society. Uniform sportswear worn by russian athletes during the 1984 Olympic Games in United States inspired me to create a collection which represents the style worn by young boys  from poor families whose favorite subject is school was physical education. This season I am covering my products with a hammer and sickle which happen to be a symbol of the unity of workers and peasants during the period of communism movement which was building the social ideology on the USSR territory.

Simple cuts and minimalistic prints made my collection very “pret-a-porte”. My product is the best connection between contemporary skatewear and forgotten period of USSR where street style was a result of a poor connection between Russia and other countries. Going back to the period of my childhood I am making a tribute to people who lived and enjoyed life “inside the box” and finally revealing everything which influenced our lives during the period of USSR. My fashion is a twisted postmodern propaganda, which transforms everything into a small joke and makes serious things less important and more naive. Being a part of Comme Des Garcons gave me the opportunity to collaborate with famous brands such as Vans and Reebok ,which have represented skate and street culture for the past fifty years. Making a collection with these brands makes my product more accessible to people who show an interest in the style they represent. Simple cuts and memorable prints caused a big interest among world celebrities and music icons. Despite that I keep my price range low and affordable for young people who are inspired by these icons and want to look like them. I want to break the ice between delusions and stereotype that high fashion products from Paris fashion week runway are expensive and average people can’t afford themselves to buy them. Spring Summer 2016 from Gosha Rubchinskiy is a fresh, memorable, well made and nostalgic collection unlocking the meaning of the phrase “All new is a good forgotten old”.

SECTION TWO

When we say word “contemporary” we automatically think about something new, fresh and modern. But if we think about fashion, can we say it is modern at all? Every designer references on something, which already exists in this world. That means that each clothing or accessory piece is always postmodern, no matter how innovative designers are trying to be. The name of Gosha Rubchinskiy in fashion world has been like a big bang for past couple of years. Everyone claim that he is something very modern and a good example of contemporary design. But what makes him so modern? Is it because he makes his collections and prints similar to contemporary menswear labels such as Tommy Hilfiger, Palace and Supreme? In some products similarity is so big that it can be easily named as well made plagiarism. He takes an existing print of well known street brand and remakes it on his own way to make it almost unrecognizable but still very eye catching and popular.
Gosha says that his clothing line was inspired by skateboarding culture in 90’s. If we will look at this culture in general and who represented it we will see young boys who are dedicated to a very carefree lifestyle. A very strong message in Gosha designs and prints  is inspired by post soviet communism and life ideology on the territory of USSR and makes a huge question between the connection of these two worlds. Politics and skateboarding? Who would be a consumer of his product? Is it a person, who is very dedicated to the period of crisis in USSR  and a phrase “Ready for work and defence” printed on his t-shirt is something that he truly understands by wearing it? Or is it a bunch of young skaters who don’t really understand a true history reference of this print but just want to be a part of fashion hype?
Being something exotic for the west world Gosha Rubchinskiy is not being fully understood by the consumers who are rushing to the shops and empty the shelves with his products and make his product almost unreachable. Everything they see is foreign letters and words and sometimes don’t even understand the translation of them.

Every high-end brand has it’s own typical consumer which can be recognized by the his life status position.If we name Balenciaga we see rich people who are dedicated to a pure luxury in clothing. But if we think about skatewear labels we see only sportswear which is mostly functional and has nothing to do with high-end brands.
So maybe Gosha’s t-shirts and tracksuits are being overhyped by mistake of taking his simplicity as something very unique and luxurious among street stylers. And maybe this hype is not going to last for long time, because his message is too strong for his consumers, who are just being hostage of fashion.