TSENKOFF: Parisian clothes for the self-led woman

She has a mindful approach to creating carefully considered and perennially chic designs – with integrity, a sustainable approach and French know-how. We sat down with her to hear all about her start-up journey.

Within less than a minute of meeting Alexandra, I am immediately taken in by her endearing nature. “I’m very, very French,” she tells me, while excusing her warm and rich regional accent. And she is Parisian in every sense of the word: her demeanour, her effortless speech, her innate ability to encapsulate the word ‘style’. She wears her hair long, tousled and scraped back behind her ears, allowing me to spot her intricate, sinuous drop earrings – a gift from her mother. And she’s wearing a black crew neck T-shirt from Uniqlo. I also notice the Picasso painting on her wall.

She’s behind France’s best kept secret – until now. TSENKOFF’s pieces are created using leftover fabric and are handcrafted from a small family-owned atelier in Paris, which is a stone’s throw away. “It’s cool because I can go there whenever I want,” Alexandra enthuses.

Originally from Toulouse in the South of France, Alexandra moved to the capital when she was 18 to study at Atelier Chardon Savard (the prestigious fashion school with sites in Paris, Berlin and Nantes). And it was her grandmother who made her realise her early fascination for clothes. “She was the first to teach me how to sew when I was young. She would make clothes for every child; it’s how I discovered it,” Alexandra recalls. She also inherited her mum’s love for fashion. So, naturally, this contributed to her dream of going to school in Paris, where the training for a career in fashion began.

Pictured: Founder Alexandra Tsenkoff

Her debut collection, which launched in 2021, is a careful curation of styles designed for the well-rounded and self-led TSENKOFF woman. Realised through timeless silhouettes, muted tones, figure-honouring cuts and flowing proportions, this makes for a collection that’s equally soft and nonchalant as it is sharp and empowering.

I tell her that TSENKOFF resonates perfectly with Edit Her’s ethos. And she reveals that designing TSENKOFF has made her truly realise her personal style. “It’s quite funny because before studying fashion, I spent too much time thinking about what I wanted to wear.” She says that now, ever since receiving the first prototype for TSENKOFF, she unintentionally identified that it’s synchronised with her own style. “It’s just super me,” she enthuses.

‘TSENKOFF’ (Alexandra’s mother’s surname) wasn’t the initial choice for her brand name. She felt that naming the brand after herself would put her at the centre of attention. “That’s not really my personality,” she admits. Her original choice was Alcé (note the French accent she would’ve used), which stands for battle-strength, courage and prowess in Greek mythology. However, she discovered the name was in use by another start-up, who registered just two weeks before she was set to go live. Subsequently, she had to rebrand at the last minute as TSENKOFF. There’s no denying that Alcé would have perfectly set the tone for the brand’s powerful clothes, which are underpinned by French insouciance. And let’s not forget how chic Alcé looks and sounds. To top it off, Alexandra had already paid for packaging and the site domain with the original name, before she ended up having to rethink things. Realising that this was one of her first learning experiences, she says it’s all a part of the journey – or the “TSENKOFF adventure”, as she puts it.

But never mind Alcé, you could say that TSENKOFF was, unbeknown to her at the time, the perfect brand name; it’s unique: “I’m sure no one else has the same name,” she recalls telling herself. And it sounds like a brand name, as people were constantly telling her.

As for how she describes TSENKOFF: “A Parisian brand which has a sustainable approach and really cares about pure design, details, fabric and cut, as opposed to following trends. It’s feminine but not sexy. When you wear TSENKOFF clothes, you feel wowed, you want to wear these clothes year after year.” I agree, this collection alone would make for the perfect capsule wardrobe. Think businesswoman meets French girl cool. As Alexandra puts it, “you are never bored” when wearing one of the brand’s pieces.

So, what’s her favourite design? “The Ivy dress” – a fitted mid-length number in off-white, with unapologetic side slits and playful cut-outs. It’s daytime meets nighttime, demure meets daring, with just the right amount of zhuzh to take it from pared back to elegance with attitude. “It’s a strong piece, even though it’s simple without too many details,” Alexandra explains. And there’s one rule: “You have to feel confident when you wear this dress.” For Alexandra, it’s less about how you wear it than how you feel in it. “Some girls told me, ‘Oh, it’s transparent’. I was like, ‘Yes, it is, but you can wear it with [your preferred underwear], something cool, or even over swimwear for the beach.’” For me, it’s the kind of style worn by the best-dressed woman at the party, who has an effortless aura about her, as if she only got dressed in 10 minutes. Which is likely to be Alexandra, as she later tells me she wears the prototype to parties.

As for whether Alexandra had a particular scenario or person in mind when designing the dress: “I always think about the clothes in the street: the people wearing it, by day or by night, with completely different outfits.” She relates this back to women who switch their outfits between different events – bar to party, for example. And she’s designing pieces that simplify the styling process; they make a strong yet effortless statement regardless of how they’re styled. Nevertheless, she’s curious to see each woman’s individual take on it.

And when it comes to the TSENKOFF woman: “She’s the kind of woman that’s very curious and free (like the women working and living in Paris), who likes arts, who wants to feel a little bit different, in a way. Feminine and strong but still very minimalist – like my personal aesthetic,” Alexandra explains.

On the piece that empowers her the most: “It’s our suit blazer in black, because the silhouette is very interesting and strong.” She likes to style this chic single-button number with nothing underneath, a pair of heels and a confident walk, so “you just feel elegant and like yourself.” She says creating this feeling is what she loves most. It’s surely the way that the woman who recently bought it with the matching trousers is bound to feel. And while I get Alexandra to share the details of her latest customers, she tells me that the earlier mentioned Ivy dress was also one of the last pieces she sold. As for who these customers were: “They are Parisian girls – one’s a designer and the other a lawyer,” as far as Alexandra knows. “I’m like ‘Ahh’ every time,” she enthuses, describing the feeling when she sells one of her pieces.

“What I love about TSENKOFF is that it’s an independent brand founded by a young designer who lives and work and Paris and creates Paris-made clothes that are still affordable,” Alexandra enthuses. And this is coming from a woman who’s had experience of working for big names in fashion. Some of which include cult favourite Jacquemus and achingly cool AMI Paris. That’s before she took a leap of faith and stepped into the freelance world (during lockdown), after her year-long contract at AMI was up. She loved everything about working at AMI, including the “super” team. “I learned so many things,” she enthuses. So, you could say that most might have jumped at the chance to accept their offer to stay on at the brand. Especially in the middle of the pandemic and consequent economic downfall. As for her: “I wanted to try something else,” she recalls. Not playing it safe? “I just want to do what I have always dreamt about.”

And while she didn’t always think she would end up a brand owner, other things were clear right from the beginning. “I really wanted to do something that allowed me to be free – one of my greatest personal values. When working in a company, I experienced having to do things like eat at one or two, before being back in the office. I was like, ‘This isn’t for me. This is not the life that I want.’” She relates this to her being a creative who doesn’t want to feel restricted.

Pictured: Alexandra wearing the Carmen blazer

And despite entrepreneurial life being “very scary at times”, she says, “I like to learn by doing; not to think too much.” Which means as long as she’s clear on the foundation and values of her brand, she can take each day as it comes. And we, for one, are excited about the future of TSENKOFF. Its clothes epitomise the three words that best sum up Edit Her: women, style, power. How to dress like an Edit Her Woman? Think TSENKOFF.

As for Alexandra, her ‘seize the day’ attitude is one we’re definitely on board with. “I think it’s important not to wait until when you’re [much older] and you’re like, ‘Oh I don’t like my job’. I don’t want to be this person,” she declares.

And despite that famous old saying that people in France work to live and not the other way around, Alexandra says, “I’ve always been very focused on work.” So, not the ‘work is work’ type then? “When you focus on what you love, it’s easier to focus on work.” She highlights that this has been especially true as of late, since we’ve been restricted to a socially distanced life.

That said, Alexandra, who typically wakes up at 8am, says she’s trying to lead a more balanced lifestyle. “I’m really trying to have more of a routine, because [right now,] I wake up, have a coffee and start working after like 10 minutes. And then at around 11, I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, I’m still in pyjamas. I have to take a shower,’” she says, explaining lockdown life. “I hate this feeling when you just work for hours and don’t see where the time goes,” she adds.

While she sometimes takes breaks to do sports, that usually ends with her working into the night – sometimes until 2am. “I want to try and have one hour before bed to do nothing – no work. But sometimes it’s quite difficult. As for how she’d like to be: “I think I need to be more like, ‘OK, just go and shower, dress at eight’, just for my mental [state],” she says. Even so, she’s honest about not being in the mood to dress up all the time. “I’m not wearing these kinds of clothes every day,” she asserts, referring to TSENKOFF pieces, of course. “I’m just super lazy at home,” she adds.

I ask her where we’re likely to find her on a Friday night. “Having a glass of wine outside in a bar with friends – it’s very French and it’s what I love to do.” And she tells me that this happens whether rain or sunshine. And on free days, away from nightlife, you’ll most likely find her at a library or museum, or just walking in Paris. “But I’m working most of the time,” she says.

As for what excites her most in life: “All possibilities. Sometimes, we forget it, but there are no limits. Honestly, we can do whatever we want,” she enthuses. So, where will she be five years from now: “I think I will be between Paris and a sunny place – like the South of France. TSENKOFF will be doing really good; I’ll hopefully have a good office with very cool women employees – like a women crew – and consistent collections. I think I will be managing my personal and working life, and I think the most exciting thing for me will be to have TSENKOFF [thriving]. I think I will be a much happier person.”

And this might all happen a lot sooner than she thinks. What started with ‘OK, we’ll just design pants and maybe a shirt’, has developed into initial meetings with e-commerce stores to discuss partnerships. And she even has a refreshingly nonchalant approach to that, saying that it would be cool to sell her designs through other sites as well as in physical stores. She’s also keen on organising pop-up events with other brands, where she could share her plans with people, including customers, of course. Like an experience? “More like a lifestyle,” she says. “It resonates with my life in Paris and what I love the most: meeting people and sharing some simple but quality time with them.”

Her approach on the challenge of going it alone without a co-founder is just as admirable: “Just listen to yourself, your intuition and what you want to do; don’t hesitate to ask people for advice and what they think about something. For now, that’s what I’m doing.” And she wants to grow slowly and organically: “You still have to think of the future, but you also have to anticipate – a little bit like a game,” she says. Well, her pieces are perfect for work or play – so it’s really a win-win.