What does being young in Russia look like right now? That was the question on Gosha Rubchinskiy’s mind when he staged his homecoming AW17 show in Kaliningrad a little over a month ago, bringing together boys from all over his motherland to walk for him. Appearing on the runway (in this case, the wooden floor of the Kaliningrad Centre of Youth Culture) to the sound of themselves narrating their lives for the audience, we were introduced to the “image of the young generation of (Russia) today.” Here, in a new documentary, we’re getting another deeper look at the lives of these kids – with helpful subtitles this time, in case you’re not fluent in Russian.  

Produced by INRUSSIA, the doc splices together footage of models getting ready for the show itself with video of Gosha’s gang going about their everyday lives back home in cities like Divnogorsk and Krasnodar – walking dogs, wandering around the city or graffiti-ing old abandoned buildings. Having all answered his open call for models, they tell us their aspirations, of the cultural histories of where they live. Together, they paint a rare picture of a region that has changed the fashion landscape as we knew it, despite (or precisely because of) the disjunction of this perspective and that of the establishment. 

It’s an intimate look at the lives of young men in Russia today, who despite being geographically separate, were all united by the designer and the way of life that he represents.

Watch the film below.