Hypebeasts will attest that fashion is so much more than a visual language, and the brands they’re most drawn to often have social undertones beyond cool clothes. From Raf Simons to Rick Owens, the impact these brands can leave on fashion kids is powerful enough to make them accumulate months of saving up to drop heat on some of the most unfathomably expensive collectibles. Emerging designers do get their passing spotlight due to empathy for the underdog, but none’s quite risen to the challenge like Gosha Rubchinskiy’s deeply Russian eponymous menswear label.
East European fashion has for a long time stood as an oxymoron; what ideas do a gang of white boys with shaved heads in shearling jackets, skinny jeans and Doc Martens combat boots conjure? To introduce that vision as his brand’s core association seemed peculiar, but once it was presented as a new direction that streetwear could head plus having had green lights along the way from moguls like Adidas and Comme Des Garçons created a perfect storm to build the Hypebeast appetite.
Gosha Rubchinskiy’s SS18 Runway Show
Tapping into youth culture by featuring a lineup of slogan tees, windbreakers, caps and sneakers seems like a baseline of a brand aiming to cultivate a loyal fanbase; and in Gosha’s SS18 show this notion escalated to new heights when what appeared to be Burberry-check looks that had editors scrambling to confirm which designer’s work they were watching. But of course it was a clever teaser for an upcoming collaboration. Of course.
Gosha x Burberry Capsule Collection Shot by Gosha Rubchinsky
Much like we’ve lambasted the Supreme x Louis Vuitton team-up enough last year, we’re sad to have to quickly lost another champion of “the people” to the dollar and mainstream. A discussion of Gosha’s Burberry would’ve been valid if not everyone in fashion was hypocritically working with brands/ideals they’ve vehemently mistreated — Saint Laurent at Colette, Gucci with Dapper Dan, etc.
With that being said, these time-transportive capsule collection pieces are subtle with Burberry’s British elegance yet modern with Gosha’s normcore future. With creative director Christopher Bailey having left Burberry with this collaboration as his farewell project to the house, we’re sure his fingers are crossed for the success of this fashion duet.
He needn’t worry.
Gosha x Burberry launches at Dover Street Market Singapore from 6 January 2018.
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