Julian Klincewicz Says Gosha Rubchinskiy Offers "A Window Into a Whole World"

Julian Klincewicz is a bit of a Renaissance Man, having tried his hand at photography, fashion design and film in the past year alone. Now for the start of 2017, he’s made a short film turned advertising campaign in collaboration with both Super by RETROSUPERFUTURE Sunglasses and Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy. This is not the first time that Julian has worked with Rubchinskiy — the 21-year-old polymath has traveled to Russia, cataloging his experiences around the country with Gosha’s youthful skate crew in a zine/photobook titled ЖУРНАЛ (translated to JOURNAL).

HYPEBEAST spoke to Klincewicz about working with one of the hottest names in fashion, the concept behind the ballet-like dances in the video, and the optimistic political inspirations underpinning the short film, viewable above.

This isn’t your first project with Gosha—you published a zine, ЖУРНАЛ, cataloguing your travels in Russia—what’s your relationship with Rubchinskiy like?

Yeah, so ЖУРНАЛ (JOURNAL) was a zine/book published in collaboration with Vans Vault, using photos, video stills, and writings from my time in Russia with Gosha and company. The trip to Russia came about from his 2015 fall/winter Vans collaboration, which I did the video for.

Gosha is one of the artists I look up to most and am constantly inspired by. He’s also one of the people I have learned the most from in a lot of ways that go beyond just making art. I think what he offers is a window into a whole world, a world which he as an artist and human being is able to show in a meaningful way that allows people like you or me to be equally connected to & transported by. I feel really grateful to have gotten to collaborate with him in the past, and was really excited to get to work on this project with RETROSUPERFUTURE as well.

What’s it like working with him and how did your guys’ creative relationship come about?

For me it’s really amazing to work with Gosha. He has a lot of trust in younger people’s visions, he’s very genuinely interested in what youth has to offer to the world and what that perspective is, but also has a very very clear concept and feeling – spirit is maybe the best word to use – to what works within his world. He is able to balance both things in a really incredible way that unifies his vision as an artist, designer, photographer, etc.

What is the subject of the film exactly? What was the process behind that like?

The video is sort of centered on dancing. I think there’s ballet influence in there, but the dances are definitely more centered on rave or contemporary moves. The two frames have two different feelings to me — there’s the bigger fly frame that is very much inspired by the rave or club kid, so we used a little bit of existing footage from a rave we went to in Moscow. There’s also a smaller frame that reminds me of a more Russian academic school boy or something, which for me felt a bit more introverted, it’s where I think some of the in-studio dancing was influenced by. It’s a similar spirit, but for me in a slightly more introverted way.

Another really important concept or piece for the video for me was the music. Thinking a lot about the current Russia/U.S. relationship and the state of the world, the song’s opening line “living in freedom” felt very powerful to me on both a large scale, think politically and on a personal level, since Gosha opened up an entire world for me through our collaborations. It’s important to keep sight of very personal connections even in lieu of how media often portrays global relationships. People like you and me are far more powerful than we often think and it’s super important right now to remember that in our everyday lives. To carry love and understanding, but also fun & challenge in our lives. I think the music put all of those feelings together in a succinct way.

What stands out most about this project to you as a filmmaker, photographer and designer?

I think there are two really key things. One is that I really have a lot of respect and appreciation for SUPER – I think as a company they’re able to balance a lot of different markets or people and keep a sense of integrity, which I think a lot of their collaborations are a testament to – Mark Gonzales, Andy Warhol, Gosha Rubchisnkiy… the list goes on. So it was great to get to work with them.

Secondly, I think it was a good reminder of just how special Gosha’s vision is. I can’t explain it other than there’s a reason that Gosha’s influence is so huge and it’s because he’s really able to internalize and digest a specific type of world, and then manifest it in a way that people can understand.

What have you learned from this experience?

I think it was a good reminder that in collaboration you have to remember that it is the coming together from multiple visions.

Can we look forward to more from you and Gosha and Super in the future?

Only time will tell.