Kanye West Taps Controversial Designer Gosha Rubchinskiy as YEEZY Head of Design

Navi Ahluwalia
·2 min read
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In other news you didn't have down on your 2023 bingo card, Kanye West just announced that controversial designer Gosha Rubchinskiy is YEEZY's new Head of Design. Shared via X, Ye posted an official release which read, "YEEZY welcomes Gosha Rubchinskiy as its new Head of Design today. The arrival of this legendary Russian designer at Yeezy, the pre-eminent global brand in music and fashion, is a milestone in design history."

The Russian designer also shared a statement on Instagram, confirming the news and stating: "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 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."

The designer first came under fire in 2018 for exchanging "inappropriate" messages with a minor, which the brand explained were originally from a street casting and were "taken out of context." At the time, Gosha had released multiple collaborations with adidas, which led to the brand pausing their partnership in a bid to investigate the claims.

Since then, it was announced that the Gosha brand would be ending and as a result, his secondary label PACCBET appeared to be the designer's main focus, until he began to collaborate with West and subsequently design the merchandise for his newest album, VULTURES.

It's hardly surprising that YEEZY would double down and team up with someone who's also known to be problematic, but as for what the appointment will do for the YEEZY brand, and Kanye West in general, it's hard to tell.

The Gosha announcement also comes as Kanye West unveiled the "YEWS" news platform. Back in October, it was revealed that the rapper had filed multiple trademark applications for the use of "YEWS" across a wide range of categories, including education, advertising, banking services, music streaming, TV, beauty care, food and drink, games, clothing, footwear, cookware, alcoholic beverages and more.

In other news, Mia Khalifa and Aries just released the ultimate 2024 calendar.