Yahoo Lifestyle Kanye West’s Yeezy Line Collaborates With Sean John Label, and Gosha Rubchinskiy Departs
Hours after Kanye West went on a pro-Hitler rant on social media and supported Sean Combs in his legal battles, Gosha Rubchinskiy announced that he has parted ways with the musician’s Yeezy brand.
West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, also told his 20.8 million Instagram followers late Thursday night about a new collaboration between Yeezy and Combs’ Sean John brand. “ME AND PUFF SPLITTING THIS 50/50 LIKE WE DISCUSSED BEFORE THEY LOCKED HIM UP.” That post had 230,000 likes and 13,000 comments as of Friday at noon.
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Combs responded to the announcement post about his collaboration and thanked Ye.
Combs, who was arrested in September and indicted by federal authorities in New York for allegations of a litany of sexual crimes, is facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution. The 55-year-old multi-Grammy winner and Sean John clothing label founder is facing more than two dozen lawsuits and accusations of rape, sexual assault and drugging some victims. He has denied any wrongdoing.
West, a 24-time Grammy winner, also posted a video of one of Combs’ sons on Instagram and encouraged “EVERY SON WHO [SIC] DAD IS LOCKED UP WRITE [SIC] OR WRONG I WANT YALL TO LISTEN TO DAVE CHAPELLES JOKES VERY CLOSE THIS TIME. LET’S SEE HOW FUNNY IT GETS WHEN FAMILIES ARE SEPARATED ESPECIALLY BLACK FAMILIES.”
West’s latest controversy comes just days after his turn on the red carpet with his wife Bianca Censori at the 67th annual Grammy Awards shocked many on Feb. 2. The Australian-born architect and model dropped her fur coat for a nearly stark-naked stunt.”
In 1998, the Sean John label was started by the hip-hop entrepreneur Combs in 1998, but it has been largely dormant in the past few years. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment, was first nominated for the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Menswear Designer of the Year award in 2000, and won that honor in 2004. After diving into other categories including beauty, Combs’ retail business was $525 million in 2016. At that time, Global Brands Holdings Ltd. purchased a majority stake in the Sean John label, which equated to a $70 million payday for Combs.
In 2021, Combs files a lawsuit against Global Brands Group seeking $25 million for “false endorsement, misappropriation of likeness and violating his publicity rights,” over the launch the prior fall of a women’s collection with U.K. fast-fashion retailer Missguided Unlimited. That same year after Global Brands Group filed Chapter 11, Combs bought back the trademark for the Sean John brand in bankruptcy court for $7.6 million.
Attorneys for West and Combs did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
Rubchinskiy, who joined Yeezy in 2023, announced the split on Instagram, saying the partnership with Yeezy reached its conclusion in December, which was the last drop for the Russian-born designer. He said he was “deeply grateful to Ye and the entire Yeezy team for a memorable experience — one that will always stay with me.”
Rubchinskiy continued, ”As I move forward, I continue to develop my creative vision, exploring new projects and evolving past ideas in ways that feel true to me. In due time, I will share more about what’s next for upcoming Gosha Rubchinskiy brand relaunch.”
Rubchinskiy’s head of communications Alena Tkach deferred an interview request Friday until the relaunch of his brand later this year. The designer has been focused on working on the relaunch, since the beginning of the year, Tkach said.
Rubchinskiy’s career was cut short by allegations of misconduct, which he denied. In December 2018, a 16-year-old seeking to model in the Russian designer’s look book, accused him of inappropriate behavior. At that time, exchanges that were shared on Instagram and WhatsApp seemed to suggest the designer was trying to coax racy pictures from the youth. He denied the accusations.
The 40-year-old Russian-born designer had joined Yeezy in turbulent times two years ago, after West had faced widespread criticism for his antisemitic remarks. West had incorporated Yeezy in 2013 and had introduced products through an Adidas partnership in 2015. After his departure from Adidas, Yeezy apparel is now sold via Yeezy’s online store. Rubchinskiy has previously lent his talents to Burberry, Diesel, Dr. Martens and Levi’s among other brands.
After introducing his label in 2008, he presented his first three shows in Moscow. But Rubchinskiy catapulted onto the men’s wear scene with his edgy shows in Paris, where he showed for four seasons, from June 2014 to January 2016, as a protégé of Comme des Garçons.
Media requests to Yeezy and Censori were not returned Friday.
West’s and Censori’s next public outing could be Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Earlier this week the musician told TMZ, “We might pull up.”
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