The Report on Gosha 1

The Report on Gosha

Гоша Рубчинский
Sebastian Pervaza
Mrs. Mattice
Business Communication
The Report on Gosha 2

Table of Contents

The Start - 3
Depth of the Success - 4
The Short End of the Stick - 5
An Open Door - 6
Not Quite the Cold War - 7
Fin - 8
Citation - 9

The Start
The Report on Gosha 3

When you are asked to think of a popular designer clothing company, what comes to mind first?

A typical answer would be Gucci or Versace. What where the chances that you where going to

say Gosha Rubchinskiy? While Gosha doesn’t seem to ring a bell to many people locally, they

are the biggest clothing brand in Russia. The name comes from the creator himself, Georgiy

Aleksandrovich Rubchinskiy, who goes by simply “Gosha.” Gosha debuted in Moscow, Russia

in 2009 (Fedorova, 2016). As stated, “Gosha Rubchinskiy took over an Orthodox church turned

Soviet gymnasium for one of his first runway shows. He recruited models straight from his own

Moscow skate crew, dressing them in biker jackets, dark vests, and baggy green sweatpants.”

This was his first show, and while many people thought nothing of it, 032c editor-in-chief Joerg

Koch was astounded and offer to work together and make collaborations works with gosha to get

him some exposure. Gosha Rubchinskiy designs all his items from clothes to accessories. His

catalog contains clothing, such as jackets and jeans, accessories, such as shoes and sunglasses,

and others, such as soccer balls and cologne. The designer takes advantage of Cyrillic, Russian

characters, and provides eccentric looks for each of his pieces. With such a wide variety, there

seems to be something for everyone. However, the price may be too high for many people. Let’s

analyze Gosha’s work and try to understand where the brand may be headed.
The Report on Gosha 4

Depth of the Success

We must first begin this analysis on what Gosha Rubchinskiy does well. To begin, he had a truly

original idea with his designs. He took great influence from the 1980’s and 1990’s for his clothes

(Baker, 2014). Trying to bring clothes that relive those years. Because he is from Russia, these

decades meant that a lot of the influence comes from the Soviet Union. These designs include

Cyrillic words and symbols such as the Soviet flag and the Hammer and Sickle. I can imagine

that these designs have caused great success because the new generation, that he is trying to

target, that find these designs trendy and with older generations, as they may find the designs

“nostalgic” as Gosha says in the interview with Fedorova.

In addition to this, Gosha is known for collaborating with other large companies. Collaborations

can increase the popularity of a smaller brand and get the name out in the public. His first

collaborations came right from his very first show with 032c, which is a well-known German

magazine company. They helped increase exposure for Gosha and help him make a name for

himself (Fedorova, 2016). One of the biggest collaborations happened last year during the 2018

FIFA World Cup, when Adidas agreed to collaborate with Gosha Rubchinskiy, taking advantage

of the fact that the tournament was taking place in Russia (Davies, 2018). This collaboration

helped him get further exposure and was now recognized world wide since the majority of the

world watches this once-in-every-four-years’ experience.

In fact, that’s how I personally discovered the name. He

released a collection with adidas that was related to the

worlds sport and produced old-fashioned soviet era

soccer jerseys, cleats, and shoes.

Adidas Copa Super Gosha Rubchinskiy Green
stockx.com
The Report on Gosha 5

The Short End of the Stick

Nobody is perfect, this also goes for Gosha Rubchinskiy. Now that we have labeled his

successes, it is time for the weaknesses. To begin, we should discuss the designs. The hammer

and sickle are a very distinguishable sign, with a generally understood message. The symbol of

communism is not appreciated in a fair amount of areas and may be why the designer hasn’t seen

greater international success. For instance, the

United States. Many people within the United

States are against communism and what it

represents since our history with the Soviet

Union and the tensions during the Cold War.

Even a simple shirt such as this one here may

cause an unwanted reaction.

The next thing that I’ve seen myself as a weak

Hammer and Sickle Shirt by Gosha Rubchinskiy
trait is their social media. Whether its Instagram dhgate.com

or Twitter, their posts are temporary. If they have a new collection, they might not even promote

it through social media, they wait until news sources get to it. I understand the mysterious aspect

of it, but unless I’m actively trying to find out of Gosha released a new collection, I may miss out

until later. Certain items may even be sold out in my area before I even find out that the new

collection dropped. I see this as a major draw back and I believe that he could use social media to

promote his brand to every part of the world.

The Report on Gosha 6

An Open Door

As far as opportunities go, Gosha Rubchinskiy as opened all that where available. For Gosha,

collaborating with Adidas was his best opportunity as it is the largest brand in Russia and one of

the largest worldwide. There are a few collaborations waiting that could give him a much larger

brand within the United States. If Gosha can manage to collaborate with a growing company

such as Supreme or BAPE, it would benefit both brands. Gosha would gain popularity within the

United States and the collaborator would gain popularity in Russia. These companies produce

clothing and accessories and with even a small creation such as a sweater or outerwear with the

title Supreme x Gosha Rubchinskiy would grab a lot of attention.

Gosha Rubchinskiy wearing a Supreme sweater hyperbeast.com

Another opportunity that hasn’t been seized yet is a proper website. Many people shop online

now in this digital and having an official website can help with gaining both familiarity and

revenue. A website should contain all available products and be user friendly. Currently Gosha

uses third party sites that do not have a consistent catalog. Each website contains different pieces

of clothing and it may discourage a purchase. Having all available items on a single site may

benefit Gosha.
The Report on Gosha 7

Not Quite the Cold War

The last point to cover is threats. In the market that Gosha is a part of, there is a lot of

competition. Something he needs to look out for is a fall in popularity, whether it be from a lack

of new content or because a new designer. In case a new designer comes out he needs to try is

best to either beat him or to work with him. For example, if a new designer named “X” showed

up and seemed to be a threat to Gosha’s business, he has two real choices. He could make him a

rival and they could both try to fight for top spot like here with Nike and Adidas. The other

option is to work with him. Collaborations would grow both and they would also gain popularity

from consumers.

The only other threat I can see is if the designer himself did something questionable. As Gosha is

only a single person, it only takes one mistake or one move to completely change how the brand

is seen. An example would be with Gianni Versace. Versace was and still is one of the biggest

designer brands in the world. The Italian produced breathtaking designs that many of the elite

would wear. He was already on top, however, his death in 1997 saw a massive increase in sales

and popularity. Its almost like an artist who’s work only becomes popular after death. I’m not

implying that Gosha should die, but my point was to show how a single thing can change

everything.
The Report on Gosha 8

Fin

To summarize Gosha Rubchinskiy, he is a Russian designer who debuted in 2009. His brand has

been slowly growing until 2018 with the collaboration with Adidas during the World Cup shot it

much higher than ever. He is gaining much popularity around the world. Gosha needs to be

careful with everything he does. Whether it is a new design or a simple choice outside of work,

his decisions could influence his business. He is currently on the right path and the only thing he

should work on now is international exposure.

The Report on Gosha 9

Citation

Baker, H. (2014, September 01). Exclusive: Gosha Rubchinskiy's Crimea/Kids. Retrieved from

http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3863/exclusive-gosha-rubchinskiys-

crimea-kids

Davies, D. M. (2018, June 19). Gosha Rubchinskiy on his World Cup collaboration with adidas.

Retrieved from http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/40360/1/gosha-rubchinskiy-

adidas-world-cup

Dog, P., Tomash, M., Krylova, Y., Zhuzhzhalova, O., Merkulav, I., Kaspruk, K., & Khachaturan,

A. (2017, January). Apart. Retrieved from http://inrussia.com/apart

Fedorova, A. (2016, June 16). Gosha Rubchinskiy: Inside his Vertically Integrated Youth

Universe. Retrieved from https://032c.com/Gosha-Rubchinskiy-interview