Gosha Rubchinskiy was hanging out on Moscow’s alternative scene in the Noughties, and techno music, skateboard kids, film and photography were all part of the picture. He got his first collection off the ground with the help of the owners of a nightclub and it was shown in a stadium, modelled by runners. Named Empire of Evil, after Ronald Reagan’s reference to Russia during the Cold War, it was snapped up.Nine years on, Rubchinskiy, who trained at art and design colleges in the Russian capital, is atop a thriving brand, invested in and produced by Comme des Garçons since 2012, and one that speaks to kids the world over with its palimpsest layers of subversive graphics, references to Russian art history, football, skateboarding and the 90s post-Soviet era, but, crucially,…
