“I can assure you that Adidas takes any allegation of this nature extremely seriously and are currently looking into the claim that has been made,” a representative from Adidas told FashionNetwork.com. “We will share more information as soon as possible.”The German athleticwear brand and Rubchinskiy have been creative partners for some time, beginning with a surprise collaboration for the designer’s Fall/Winter 2017 collection in January of that year. The two joined forces twice more in 2017, both for Rubchinskiy’s Spring/Summer 2018 collection that May and for the Adidas Football x Gosha Rubchinskiy Season II collection of 80s and 90s Soviet-era-inspired wears in June.  

This year, shortly after the designer announced he would discontinue his eponymous label, Adidas and Rubchinskiy worked together yet again for a Gosha Rubchinskiy x Adidas collection in honor of the 2018 World Cup held in Russia. The screenshots now being investigated by Adidas were first released on the fashion fan Instagram High Fashion Talk Group by 16-year-old Jan Silfverling, who claims the messages between himself and the designer show mal-intent in regard to photo requests. Fashion Network has reached out to Rubchinskiy’s team for a response to Adidas’ statement but has not received a response. In a statement given to FashionNetwork.com soon after rumors began to swirl, Rubchinskiy’s team said the messages were for a street casting, which they believe have now been taken out of context as part of a “planned provocation.”