![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/96-DO-IM_Timashkova_gosha-rubchinskiy-021-1366_CMYK-1.jpeg\")
<\/strong>1984<\/em>, Spring-Summer 2016 collection.
Photos : Gosha Rubchinskiy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
In 2016, Gosha Rubchinskiy, one of the leading designers in contemporary Russian fashion, used the hammer and sickle in his spring\/summer collection, combining it with a sporty, casual clothing style. In his runway show, one model wore a t-shirt with a communist print pattern. Another model, holding an oversized hammer and sickle, wore a two-piece suit on which was printed \u201cBe always prepared for work and protection,\u201d which resembled uniforms worn by Soviet factory workers. Appearing on various items, \u201c1984\u201d refers to the year when the Summer Olympics, held in the United States, were boycotted by the Soviet Union. The reference to this specific year can be read as a metaphor for the current Russian situation: Russia distancing itself from the \u201ccapitalist West,\u201d even as it applies capitalist methods under the guise of communism. Rubchinskiy himself states that 1984 has an additional meaning for him because of its reference to George Orwell\u2019s novel.3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 3 <\/a> - Emma Hope Allwood, \u201cGet to know Gosha Rubchinskiy SS16,\u201d Dazed Digital<\/em>, June 26, 2015, www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/25237\/1\/get-to-know-gosha-rubchinskiy-ss16.<\/span> Nevertheless, the combination of sport style and Soviet symbols is no coincidence; sports education and culture were very dominant in the Soviet Union, which accounts for these symbols representing two sides of the same coin. Rubchinskiy says that his collection has nothing to do with nationalism. Rather, he believes he is staging a form of patriotism. And anyway, he concludes, young people don\u2019t care about politics.4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 4 <\/a> - Daniel Pearson, \u201c\u2018Long Live Communism!\u2019, Gosha Rubchinskiy Talks Russia, Youth and More,\u201d Highsnobiety<\/em>, June 15, 2016, www.highsnobiety.com\/2016\/06\/15\/gosha-rubchinskiy-interview-032c\/.<\/span> Interestingly the designer manages to summarize what is at stake, although he may not be aware of it. He observes an increasing identification with the nation-state, while hinting at the standardization that is symptomatic of globalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubchinskiy\u2019s collection was presented at a crucial moment for post-Soviet countries and the climax of the post-Soviet aesthetic trend. The designer was well aware of this fact when he used the Soviet symbols, which until then were not seen as high fashion but had been circulating simply as tourist souvenirs in Russia and Ukraine. Rubchinskiy understood that by extracting these symbols and placing them in a context in which they were considered novelties, they had greater potential to be commoditized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other designers from former Soviet states are also incorporating symbols of the past into fashion design. At first glance the designs by the Ukrainian designer Yulia Yefimtchuk seem to be very similar to Rubchinskiy\u2019s, and they certainly share a common aesthetic, but they bear different messages. For example, one of Yefimtchuk\u2019s models wore a wide-cut red worker\u2019s uniform with the white imprint \u201cSpring\u201d in Cyrillic letters, referencing the Soviet Ukraine avant-garde film In Spring <\/em>(1929),5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 5 <\/a> - Jeppe Ugelvig, \u201cUkrainian Designer Yulia Yefimtchuk\u2019s Extremely Soviet Vision of Post-Soviet Youth,\u201d 032c Magazine<\/em>, March 29, 2016, https:\/\/032c.com\/30332.<\/span> an experimental documentary which depicted the transition from winter to spring. By this symbolic reference, the designer refers to the current situation in Ukraine: the country is still in a winter phase, in an economic and social crisis, but will soon emerge into a period of an awakening. However, \u201cspring\u201d may also refer to political uprisings around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The multifaceted nature of the imprints and a reversal of stereotypical gender roles marks the difference between the two designers. In contrast to Rubchinskiy\u2019s colour range, Yefimtchuk\u2019s is inspired by Constructivism. Unlike Rubchinskiy, Yefimtchuk employs symbols from the early stage of the Soviet Union, which was a time of upheaval unmarked by the rigidity of the later Soviet period. For example, in her 2017 fall\/winter collection she printed Soviet propaganda slogans from the early 1920s, as well as the word \u201cpropaganda,\u201d on her garments. When asked in an interview how to deal with post-Soviet aesthetics and iconography, Yefimtchuk answered that current social issues as well as \u201csustainability and social responsibility\u201d are themes she is most interested in. In this regard, she not only takes a clear position but also calls for taking responsibility. Although Yefimtchuk appears to have a more critical engagement with communist symbols, she is also affected by commodification. Her products are designed for a global market, but they do not reproduce oppressive political symbols. On the contrary, their multilayered nature allows the customer to make different associations, accounting for their subversive potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly enough, the Paris-based fashion label Vetements brought out a sweater, designed in collaboration with the concept store SVMoscow, picturing a hammer and sickle. The Vetements design\u200a\u2014\u200aan unaltered communist symbol printed on unisex clothing (hoodies)\u200a\u2014\u200acontinued Rubchinskiy\u2019s logic, as it was a direct copy of a street style. It is noteworthy that Vetements main designer, Demna Gvasalia,6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 6 <\/a> - Alec Leach, \u201cVetements and SVMoscow Link for Communism-Inspired \u2018\u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f \u0438 \u043c\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0442\u2019Hoodie,\u201d Highsnobiety<\/em>. Highsnobiety, November 22, 2016, www.highsnobiety.com\/2016\/11\/22\/vetements-svmoscow-hammer-sickle-hoodie\/.<\/span> was born in Georgia and lived under communism. Gvasalia and Rubchinskiy are connected through Lotta Volkova, a Russian stylist who works for both Vetements and Rubchinskiy. It is not a coincidence that communist symbolism appears at the same time in post-Soviet and Western contexts. Behind the designs are people who have a Soviet background and who must be aware of the controversial aspects of communist symbols and the economic potential of their use. The marketing technique of displaying communist symbolism was considered an artistic invention and hyped by major fashion magazines, such as Vogue and Harper\u2019s Bazaar<\/em>. Note that none of these magazines dedicated a single line to critical reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n However, critical articles about these fashion trends appeared in newspapers not solely focused on fashion such as The Guardian,7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 7 <\/a> - Morwenna Ferrier, \u201cThe Man Who Made Russian Fashion Cool,\u201d The Guardian<\/em>, October 12, 2016, www.theguardian.com\/fashion\/2016\/oct\/12\/russian-fashion-gosha-rubchinskiy-post-soviet-designer-menswear.<\/span> The Calvert Journal8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 8 <\/a> - Anastasiia Fedorova, \u201cSoviet Symbols on the Catwalk: Is It a Step Too Far for Fashion?\u201d The Calvert Journal<\/em>, January 10, 2017, www.calvertjournal.com\/articles\/show\/7471\/hammer-and-sickle-soviet-symbols-fashion-vetements-svmoscow.<\/span> and in private blogs, questioning the ethics of using political symbols for a capitalist purpose. Dalibor Rohac, born in Czechoslovakia, addresses this issue in an article titled \u201cWhy is Communist Iconography Still Cool? \u201d (2013). In his analysis, he asks what the difference is between the use of communist symbols and Nazi symbols by young people. In his view, there is a distinction in terms of ideology, as communism was defending the idea of the socialist revolution and equality, whereas National Socialism was based on racial supremacy and a return to traditional values. Although Western European states witnessed the consequences of the Nazi regime, as families were directly or indirectly affected by the war, the communist ideology was geographically much farther away.9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 9 <\/a> - Others have also addressed this issue. See Jay Nordlinger, \u201cUndies, Comrade? The Problem of Products Bearing Communist Symbols,\u201d National Review<\/em>, June 18, 2009, www.nationalreview.com\/magazine\/2009\/07\/06\/undies-comrade\/.<\/span> Rohac argues that through geographical distance, communist symbolism lost its social and political context, which led to it being romanticized and its predominantly positive reception in the West. However, there is a distinction to be made: the left-oriented young people whom Rohac talks about wear cheap t-shirts with communist symbols printed on them. The young people wearing Rubchinskiy\u2019s and Vetements\u2019 clothes belong to a different social stratum; these labels produce high-end fashion items that cost between 300 and 600 euros, are shown on catwalks, and thus have a different impact and visual presence in the media. Additionally, the timing of the two designers\u2019 collections are distinct, as they appear when the Russia-Ukraine conflict reached its peak and was omnipresent in Western, Russian, and Ukrainian media. Rubchinskiy\u2019s and Vetements\u2019 communist collections influence the \u201cfinancial flow,\u201d which overlaps with the \u201ccultural flow,\u201d10<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 10 <\/a> - Arjun Appadurai, \u201cIntroduction: Commodities and the Politics of Value,\u201d in The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective<\/em>, ed. Arjun Appadurai, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 295\u2013302.<\/span> by using those political symbols in their collections. Thus, their cultural-political value become scommoditized. In this respect, the distinction between the \u201creal\u201d and the \u201cfake,\u201d in Baudrillard\u2019s terms, can no longer be maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Christian Marazzi\u2019s view, globalization emerges through digitization and the circulation of capital accomplished through language.11<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 11 <\/a> - Christian Marazzi, Capital and Language: From the New Economy to the War Economy<\/em> (Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2008).<\/span> If we consider fashion to be a language, we have to acknowledge that design communicates a message, and thus functions as an important actor and producer within the economic system. According to Marazzi, at this point in time language has become the main force of production and distribution, accounting for the paradox that political symbols appear simultaneously in conflict areas and in peaceful areas, in high and low fashion. It is evident that when a conflict erupts it also affects designers, who then try to respond to it within their practice. Even if a design product is primarily made for commercial reasons, it can nevertheless integrate a critical reflection and incorporate a personal standpoint, as in Yefimtchuk\u2019s work, which embodies a \u00adsubversive form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traduit de l\u2019anglais par Margot Lacroix <\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/96-DO-IM_Timashkova_gosha-rubchinskiy-022-1366_CMYK-1.jpeg\")
<\/strong>1984<\/em>, Spring-Summer 2016 collection.
Photos : Gosha Rubchinskiy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/96-DO-IM_Timashkova_gosha-rubchinskiy-017-1366_CMYK.jpeg\")
1984<\/em>, Spring-Summer 2016 collection.
Photos : Gosha Rubchinskiy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/96-DO-IM_Timashkova_gosha-rubchinskiy-019-1366_CMYK-1.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/96-DO-IM_Timashkova_SV_AA034001_CMYK-scaled.jpeg\")
Winter 2017 collection.
Photo : Erik Panov, courtesy of SVMoscow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/96-DO-IM_Timashkova_Yefimtchuk_23_last_CMYK-scaled.jpeg\")
Propaganda, <\/em>Fall-Winter 2017 collection.
Photo : Masha Mel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n