Europe’s haute interpretation of U.S. streetwear is certainly having a moment with the charge being led first by Vetements and now everyone’s favorite new darling, eponymously-named Gosha Rubchinskiy, stepping in to fill the insatiable wish among a certain crowd to stay even more obscurely cool than that the next guy. As such it makes sense the Russian label collaborated with Fila and Kappa, both able to claim some cool points precisely because they’re not Nike or Adidas, brands everyone else are already wearing.
Certainly the label’s spring 2017 offerings as shown for the first time during Milan’s Pitti Uomo, are very cool and of the moment, and yet the main plot twist is label’s home base and its ability to express a certain Russian utilitarian je ne sais quois that feels very of the moment. (Even if Rubchinskiy did tell the NY Times, “The designs are not about Russia or Russian style.”) Whether the brand will have sticking power once it loses some of its obscure appeal will be interesting to watch. It does have the backing of Rei Kawaukobo through her DSM showroom, which is huge and certainly adds weight to there being something more to this brand than a couple years worth of trendiness.
Show Notes: The brand was cast through Instagram and among the 30 models, it appears just two weren’t white, which flies in the face of another thing Rubchinskiy told the Times, “What we are doing is very internationally about this idea not of separation or isolation, but of collaboration. It’s about different boys from different cultures who are more about the things that put them together than that keep them apart.”
Again and as always, these European labels lifting ideas that started in black communities really need to get a clue about what diversity means. However fresh their designs might be, their insistence on going with very white casts is as tired as can be.
