What does it truly take to construct an "it-girl" brand in today’s fiercely competitive fashion landscape? For Paris-based label Du Ciel’s founder, Marina Sinkovskiy, stepping into the role of an it-girl in her own right has certainly helped pave the way. One glance at Sinkovskiy’s personal Instagram page makes it immediately clear that she intuitively gets it. The Kazakhstan-born designer, best known for creating viral, ultra-low-back swimsuits that captured the digital imagination, understands that a distinct brand of modern sensuality can be accessed through silhouettes and fabrications that might initially defy conventional logic, yet look undeniably magnetic on someone lounging by the Mediterranean or dressing for an electric night out.
In 2019, Sinkovskiy established her contemporary swimwear and lingerie label with a singular, intimate intention: to deepen the relationship between the wearer and their physical form. She began dreaming up pieces that feel as though the market has spent a lifetime waiting to see them—exemplified brilliantly by creations like the "Desire" bra, meticulously designed to mimic the delicate, translucent appearance of sheer stocking material. This sharp, inimitable knack for unexpected elegance effortlessly extends into Sinkovskiy’s personal style ethos as well. Her everyday aesthetic is characterized by an approach that is easy, effortless, and slightly off-beat, while remaining fiercely and effortlessly sexy. Observers and industry insiders have followed her trajectory for this exact reason, watching from the cultural sidelines as Du Ciel continues to evolve and capture the zeitgeist. Recently, we caught up with Sinkovskiy to pull back the curtain and discover what she is currently keeping tabs on this month.
Where Are You From?
To understand the global sensibility embedded within Du Ciel, one must trace the winding geographical path of its creator. Originally hailing from the remote landscapes of Zaisan, Kazakhstan, Sinkovskiy’s early life stood in stark contrast to the bustling, romantic epicenters of European fashion where she would eventually make her permanent mark. Today, she navigates the creative currents of Paris, France, blending an international perspective with the refined, effortless minimalism that the French capital is globally celebrated for. This duality of expansive, rugged origins and sophisticated urban living informs much of the tension and release present in her design work, where stark minimalism often meets bold, unexpected structural cuts.
What’s Entertaining You?
When she is not deep in the trenches of running an internationally recognized independent fashion label, Sinkovskiy’s creative appetite is fed by a curated diet of classic cinema, rich literature, and the daily demands of modern business communication. For her cinematic fix, she finds herself returning to Ridley Scott’s monumental 1991 cinematic road trip masterpiece, Thelma & Louise, a film that has long resonated with themes of female autonomy, liberation, and striking visual styling. On the literary front, she has been turning the pages of Madonna in a Fur Coat by renowned Turkish author Sabahattin Ali, a poignant exploration of solitude, memory, and complex human emotion. Meanwhile, the auditory backdrop to her daily working life consists of an entirely different kind of performance art: an endless, back-to-back stream of Google Meet calls required to manage the global operations of Du Ciel.
What Are You Browsing?
Sinkovskiy’s digital habits reflect the same eclectic eye that defines her approach to fashion design. When asked about her preferred corners of the internet, she admits to an affinity for hunting down hidden gems across any auction website she can unearth, feeding an ongoing obsession with diminutive trinkets, rare objects, and unique collectibles. For visual storytelling, her streaming platform of choice is MUBI, which she turns to because it remains the singular digital space where she can click on a completely unfamiliar, randomized film and trust implicitly that the viewing experience will be entirely worthwhile. On days when she wants a starkly different flavor of real-world drama, she pivots entirely, opting instead to tune into live court TV broadcasts.
What’s a Recent Purchase You’re Loving?
Despite the high-octane pace of the international fashion industry, Sinkovskiy’s most cherished recent acquisitions lean decidedly toward tactile, grounding pleasures. Proving that her appreciation for intricate design extends far beyond the realm of apparel, one of her latest prized possessions is a challenging 500-piece jigsaw puzzle featuring Hokusai’s iconic masterpiece, The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Complementing this quiet, meditative pastime is a much more local indulgence: a jar of rich almond cream sourced directly from Miyam, her absolute favorite neighborhood grocery store nestled in the heart of Paris. It is this balance of grand artistic appreciation and small, everyday sensory comforts that continues to fuel the creative engine behind one of contemporary fashion’s most talked-about independent labels.
