It was an international affair to say the least. Moscow-born designer Gosha Rubchinskiy recently sat down with Marfa Journal founder, Alexandra Gordienko, at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, to discuss the creative's new short film, Transfiguration. Filmed two years ago in a derelict, remote area of St. Petersburg city called New Holland, the work equates to a year's worth of menswear design; instead of fashion, Rubchinskiy focused entirely on photography and film.
Transfiguration features the city's close-knit skate community and follows the journey of young skaters. Amongst the experimental soundtrack, we gain insight into Russia's past though scores by Igor Stravinsky as well as striking close-ups and visuals of the area. It is a thought-evoking documentary, which reveals the close friendships in the skate community prior to the political crisis. At the same time, it reveals part of the vision behind the Gosha Rubchinskiy brand.
To get the full scope, we sat down with the designer and talked all things Crimea, skate culture, and the future of fashion.
SHAWANA GROSVENOR: Let's start by talking about your new photozine Crimea / Kids; can you tell me how this project came about?
GOSHA RUBCHINSKIY: Last year I visited Crimea, as my friends live there. I did some shooting whilst I was there and archived the pictures. Then ICA invited me to do a talk, and we planned to do something special for this—maybe a zine—and it seemed like a good idea to show this archive because of the situation with Crimea and Ukraine. I wanted to show the normal life of the kids growing up there, to show the beauty.
Your work transcends the label; it encompasses design, music, and photography, which collectively reflect your vision. Did fashion always seem like a natural outlet for your creativity?
It's all different parts of one project, but fashion can help to show more of my ideas. It’s all the same thing for me—photography, music, design—they all feed into one another and explore the brand.
How do you see your aesthetic evolving over time?
It's about my friends—all of them are skateboarders, but my ideas are more than skating. It’s about how I translate my ideas from hanging out with these guys. At the moment we are working on a new video project, but it takes time! I’m concentrating more on my fashion brand, to grow it because we had our first show in Paris this year, and I’m working on the next show in January.
Your F/W '14 collection entitled "Epic Aces" references the current skate community in Moscow as well at 1980s downtown culture in New York; can you tell me about your specific inspirations within these movements?
You can see what other people are doing in different parts of the world, say New York, Paris, Moscow, or Shanghai by looking on Instagram. It's easier now to see how young kids dress and what looks good in their mind. It's easier to feel the mood of today. So, this collection Epic Aces, it's all about what kids think today in New York and Moscow. There are the same moods of the late '80s, early '90s, inspired by artists such as Keith Haring, Basquiat, this crazy fake fur, club kids, and the early Supreme era. That’s why we use "it's fucking awesome" as the slogan in Russian. I see what is happening in New York as an extension of the same idea, and we have the Epic Aces skate team in Moscow, so I did this print letting in Russian but it looks like "it’s fucking awesome" to connect two cities, to connect two parties. This coll
Transfiguration features the city's close-knit skate community and follows the journey of young skaters. Amongst the experimental soundtrack, we gain insight into Russia's past though scores by Igor Stravinsky as well as striking close-ups and visuals of the area. It is a thought-evoking documentary, which reveals the close friendships in the skate community prior to the political crisis. At the same time, it reveals part of the vision behind the Gosha Rubchinskiy brand.
To get the full scope, we sat down with the designer and talked all things Crimea, skate culture, and the future of fashion.
SHAWANA GROSVENOR: Let's start by talking about your new photozine Crimea / Kids; can you tell me how this project came about?
GOSHA RUBCHINSKIY: Last year I visited Crimea, as my friends live there. I did some shooting whilst I was there and archived the pictures. Then ICA invited me to do a talk, and we planned to do something special for this—maybe a zine—and it seemed like a good idea to show this archive because of the situation with Crimea and Ukraine. I wanted to show the normal life of the kids growing up there, to show the beauty.
Your work transcends the label; it encompasses design, music, and photography, which collectively reflect your vision. Did fashion always seem like a natural outlet for your creativity?
It's all different parts of one project, but fashion can help to show more of my ideas. It’s all the same thing for me—photography, music, design—they all feed into one another and explore the brand.
How do you see your aesthetic evolving over time?
It's about my friends—all of them are skateboarders, but my ideas are more than skating. It’s about how I translate my ideas from hanging out with these guys. At the moment we are working on a new video project, but it takes time! I’m concentrating more on my fashion brand, to grow it because we had our first show in Paris this year, and I’m working on the next show in January.
Your F/W '14 collection entitled "Epic Aces" references the current skate community in Moscow as well at 1980s downtown culture in New York; can you tell me about your specific inspirations within these movements?
You can see what other people are doing in different parts of the world, say New York, Paris, Moscow, or Shanghai by looking on Instagram. It's easier now to see how young kids dress and what looks good in their mind. It's easier to feel the mood of today. So, this collection Epic Aces, it's all about what kids think today in New York and Moscow. There are the same moods of the late '80s, early '90s, inspired by artists such as Keith Haring, Basquiat, this crazy fake fur, club kids, and the early Supreme era. That’s why we use "it's fucking awesome" as the slogan in Russian. I see what is happening in New York as an extension of the same idea, and we have the Epic Aces skate team in Moscow, so I did this print letting in Russian but it looks like "it’s fucking awesome" to connect two cities, to connect two parties. This coll