The punk art collective fusing political activism and streetwear in Russia

Since its inception in 2017, the freewheeling fashion collective Kultrab has taken on a myriad of social issues that have intensely affected Russia. Whether it be calling for drug law reform, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights or environmental activism, Kultrab has emerged as a substantial force for political and social change.

“Kultrab’s mission is to develop activism through culture and fashion, and launch a chain of changes throughout the world by doing so,” says Sasha Chaika, a recurring Kultrab-collaborator, and St. Petersburg-based avant-garde artist. “It’s a small victory each time we see someone who, thanks to us, learned about a problem and then took some step of their own to help solve it.”

Alina Muzychenko and Egor Eremeev founded the collective initially as a way to help crowdfund for MediaZona—a site for independent journalism, focusing on Russian police brutality and injustice. It was founded three years prior by Marie Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot.

“For the site, we designed clothes with the words ‘It will get worse’ (Будет хуже) emblazoned on them, and this brought a lot of attention to MediaZona from a younger audience who wouldn’t necessarily read their articles,” Eremeev tells me. “We realized that with the help of clothing, we can speak out on societal topics and support projects and non-profit organizations that deal with important issues.”

Such issues include a partnership with the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, which promotes humane drug policy in Russia. “The foundation is little-known, and subjected to state repression,” Kultrab says. “At the same time, drug users are one of the most stigmatized groups, as society believes it’s not necessary to help them because they themselves are supposedly to blame. Russian prisons are one-third full of drug-related prisoners, mainly consumers and small dealers.”

Kultrab released a collection in collaboration with the artist 9cyka, with discounts for those who also signed up to donate regularly to the foundation. “This caused a great resonance across the media and ordinary Russian people, because this problem really concerns everyone here—the police can plant drugs on you, and then put you in jail or extort money,” the collective explains. “We held a large event with organized lectures and open discussions, which was supported by very cool Moscow musicians such as IC3SPEAK and 555trax555.”