Kanye West made a major announcement for Yeezy today.
The multi-hyphenate announced through a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Yeezy will welcome 39-year-old Russian fashion veteran Gosha Rubchinskiy as its head of design.
"The arrival of this legendary Russian designer at Yeezy, the pre-eminent global brand in music and fashion, is a milestone in design history," read the official statement.
Rubchinskiy's resume includes collaborations with brands like Burberry, Dr. Martens, and Levi's, as well as his own eponymous fashion label, which was founded in 2008. The experienced designer has also worked with Adidas on multiple projects, including a 2018 clothing collection inspired by the World Cup.
On his official Instagram, Rubchinskiy shared a statement reading, "We're delighted to introduce the new direction of the Gosha Rubchinskiy fashion brand as an independent creative powerhouse. Stepping away from the Comme des Garçons and Rassvet family, our brand is forging its own path. Under Gosha's creative leadership we are set to embrace exciting new projects and collaborations that embody our spirit of independence and creative drive. We're thankful for the continuous support from our community that fuels our journey."
He also participated in the artwork for West's upcoming album with Ty Dolla Sign, Vultures:
The same year Rubchinskiy designed the World Cup-influenced line, he made headlines after a 16-year-old boy accused Gosha of sending inappropriate messages. The teen shared alleged screenshots of their exchanges—which show Rubchinskiy asking him to send him images of himself—to the since-deleted High Fashion Talk online group.
Adidas said it would look into the claims made by the underage individual, though Rubchinskiy's team firmly denied the allegations in an official statement, maintaining it was "not sexual" and the sort of interaction that "happens all the time" when "street casting for a look book shoot."
"Gosha did a face time with him and then he asked for a photo to have on file with all the others," Rubchinskiy's team stated. "The person said he wasn’t alone and couldn’t take photo so Gosha suggested he just quickly goes to the bathroom and take a quick photo on the mirror, so he could show the rest of the team and have it on file."
Rubchinskiy's team went on to claim that the screenshots had been "altered" and "taken out of context" to make the designer "look bad." They added, "The person started contacting us very often demanding an answer about the casting and became a bit weird. So Gosha blocked him and we think this is why the person is trying to make Gosha look bad, and turn what was a totally innocent street casting look something that it was not."
Yeezy's Gosha announcement arrives a little over a year after Adidas terminated its Yeezy deal with Kanye over a string of anti-Semitic statements the rapper made, including his fondness of Hitler. The deal was meant to run until 2026.
