Pierre Pierre presents: Image Noire, new online boutique by Victor Sajenko

Dear Diane and Shaded Viewers,

Image Noire is a new London based avant-garde fashion boutique founded by Victor Sajenko. On the ocassion of its Opening Ceremony during Paris Fashion Week (29 june at O Paris Store) I talked with Victor about this new project of his which, undoubtly, will be successful.

Victor graduated from navigation and started his profesional career in shipping. He worked in Real Estate and also as a journalist for Radio France International in Paris (feel free to watch “Intervire with Victor Sajenko and Diane Pernet, 2013 here: www.vimeo.com/55487184). Currently he is involved in film production. Despite this diverse background, Victor has always had an interest in fashion.

“I suppose that one’s taste in fashion cannot be influenced by fashion only but it also derives from one’s taste in art”, Victor says. Such painters as Michelangelo Caravaggio, Bartolomeo Carducci or Valentin de Boulogne and film directors Ingmar Bergman, Pier Paolo Pasolini or Alain Resnais have had an effect on his preferences in fashion.

In order to know more about Victor’s emerging project, I present an interview we had last week.

·       Pierre Pierre: We know each other thanks to internet and social networks. It is quite funny how this media can create connections between people around the world, especially when you are launching IMAGE NOIRE* which homes to a large number of people into your work-team. How have social networks and websites help you in your professional life?

Victor Sajenko: Social media has certainly helped me to connect with clients and potential buyers from all over the world that I would not be able to reach without the internet. However, I am trying not to overuse social networks as they can be extremely time-consuming, and I am trying to focus all of my energy into more important aspects of my business. Although, it has certainly helped me build a global audience for my shop, so, for that I am incredibly grateful.

·       PP: Before IN* was a boutique we could see many posts on your social networks. All of them were images with a specific kind of obscure style. Did you create IN* as a blog or you always had in mind you wanted to set out an online boutique?

VS: I think the idea of the blog came to me first, but I couldn't carry on with it as the process was immensely time-consuming, and the outcome was ambiguous. Then I decided to open a boutique as I always wanted to see more of an elegant selection at other boutiques, so I thought, 'Why not open my own?' However, there is a blog on my site, but I have no time to write it by myself, I am looking for a person to do it for me but this is hard, as the person should be competent, should have a sense of style, should be able to see the difference between good and bad and this is a rare combination.

·       PP: Independent fashion labels are not only a very important part of fashion industry but also they can offer a better quality to consumers than, perhaps, some big fashion brands. What designers can we find on IN*?

VS: At the moment we carry four labels which are Lost & Found, Lumen et Umbra, Obscur and 10sei0otto. This is a question of budget and time. In the next season, we will have more labels and also we will add womenswear.

·       PP: I would love to own every garment that IN* offers. What’s your final –ideal customer?

VS: The ideal customer to me would be the one who appreciates my selection and would become a regular client.

·       PP: Random Question: Talking about a specific lifestyle and an atmosphere online, what should we be listening to whilst visiting IN*?

VS: It is hard for me to talk on this subject as I know literally nothing about the contemporary music, hence I am not a good adviser. I personally listen to John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Serge Gainsbourg and other musicians from that era.

·       PP: What can we find on IN* that we cannot get from another boutique online?

VS: Image Noire will very soon become also a fashion label, we are launching our label sometime this year and, of course, it will appear first in our shop.

·       PP: What’s the future for IN* and you?

VS: In the future, I want to launch the fashion label as I mentioned in the previous question, add womenswear; in the distant future, I want to also add art objects, interior objects, antiques and antique books (I know it is very hard to sell the last and the marge is very low, however, I love books and I want to give it a try).

Image Noire
www.imagenoire.com

“Fashion is universal. Let’s generate cross-cultural support networks.”
Pierre Pierrex

© 2015 Pierre Pierre, for ASVOF.
www.pierrexpierre.com

 

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Diane Pernet

A LEGENDARY FIGURE IN FASHION and a pioneer of blogging, Diane is a respected journalist, critic, curator and talent-hunter based in Paris. During her prolific career, she designed her own successful brand in New York, costume designer, photographer, and filmmaker.

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