Yesterday evening, Gosha Rubchinskiy returned to the Motherland to present his SS18 collection – that Motherland being Russia – showing not in the Baltic port town of Kaliningrad where he presented his AW17 collection, but 513 miles north-east to the picture-book city of St. Petersburg. Gosha puts a lot of effort into choosing locations that speak to his ideas for the season – and this was no different, St Petersburg a fitting backdrop for a collection that reflected the city’s footballing history – football being the prescient theme. It was here that the St. Petersburg Football Club was formed in 1897, the first time the sport entered Russia, and, over a hundred years later, it will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
This meant, in the collection itself, full kits that were ready for the pitch – complete with pulled-up socks and shin guards – once again collaborating with Adidas on the project. And sportswear ran throughout, bolstered by nods to tailoring – roomy striped blazers and checked trousers that fell just above the ankle. But the venue itself, the Communication Workers House of Culture, spoke of a different association – it is famously the site of Timur Novikov’s notorious rave, credited as being the very first in the country’s history. And that rave culture wove through the collection – tracksuits were coloured in lurid brights, whilst 90s iconography sat on the chests of tie-dyed t-shirts. The final piece of the puzzle came with an eight-look collaboration with Burberry and their enduring plaid, which Gosha said brought the whole thing together – rave and football, past and present, heritage and modernity.
