Former runway model Vasily Eremin has accused Russian fashion designer Gosha Rubchinskiy of sexual violence when Eremin was a 15-year-old teenager.
Eremin, now 23, detailed the allegations in a series of Instagram stories posted on Tuesday, October 7, 2026. He stated that the designer forced him into oral sex during his youth and emphasized that he considers the encounter to be rape.
Eremin also questioned why Rubchinskiy had not been cancelled in Russia when the international fashion community had already distanced itself from the designer.
The former model noted that he is currently married and has a child, adding that he had personally forgiven Rubchinskiy for the incident. However, he explained that he decided to publish his story after learning about similar cases involving other teenagers.
Eremin urged readers to consider any situation in which an adult directs sexual attention toward a teenager, describing such conduct as completely unacceptable regardless of gender or circumstances. He said his primary goal was to protect his child at all costs and to warn others by sharing his personal experience. The posts appeared on Instagram, a social platform owned by Meta, which is designated an extremist organization and banned in Russia.
Previous misconduct allegations
The new claims follow a previous high-profile scandal involving the designer and an underage model. In December 2018, fashion blogs and social media accounts, including the industry watchdog platform Diet Prada, published screenshots of private online communications between Rubchinskiy and another teenager.
In those messages, Jan Silfverling, who was 16 years old at the time, accused Rubchinskiy, who was then 34, of inappropriate communication and harassment. Silfverling stated that the designer had asked him to send personal photographs taken inside a bathroom.
Official representatives for Rubchinskiy and the designer himself categorically rejected those accusations. In formal statements to news outlets, his team maintained that the communication was part of a standard casting process for a model lookbook and claimed the published materials had been modified and taken out of context after Rubchinskiy blocked a persistent user.
Impact on fashion brand partnerships
Following the publication of the 2018 messages, German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, which had maintained a high-profile streetwear collaboration with Rubchinskiy, announced an internal investigation into the allegations. However, no official criminal charges or legal lawsuits were filed in court regarding that incident.
Gosha Rubchinskiy is a prominent Russian fashion designer, photographer, and filmmaker who achieved international recognition during the 2010s for his post-Soviet streetwear aesthetic. His collections featured Cyrillic typography and subcultural references that gained global commercial success. In the fashion industry, model casting for runway shows and promotional lookbooks routinely relies on digital communications and photo reviews.
Questions regarding operational practices at Rubchinskiy's brand have resurfaced in recent months. In July 2026, reports revealed that transparent glass doors had been installed on the fitting rooms at the Gosha Rubchinskiy retail store.
