Connecting the dots with cultural entrepreneur, brand strategist, and occasional writer, Yana Sosnovskaya (@yanasosna).

From conquering fashion with her unisex brand 'Perfect Number' to building bleeding edge cultural publication, 'Zora Zine', we find out what's next for web3's queen of cool, Yana Sosnovskaya.

Yana Sosnovskaya is a figure difficult to define. With a career spanning theatre, film, fashion and now technology, she’s nothing if not versatile. Yet what perhaps distinguishes Yana more than anything is an uncanny knack for navigating culture. It’s a distinct advantage that has propelled Yana great successes no matter the medium.

In 2018, her groundbreaking fashion label, 'Perfect Number,' challenged societal norms by presenting clothing that exuded femininity while embracing inclusivity for all.

During a conversation with Newforum in early 2023, Yana shed light on the limitations of unisex fashion, igniting a profound conversation about gender expression. Her stance struck a chord with audiences, with Perfect Number attracting an impressive following that included the likes of Alicia Keys, Kelsey Lu, and Grimes.

A few years later, Yana set her sights on web3 with similar success. Recognising the potential of decentralisation to empower cultural producers, she created the now canonical 'Zora Zine' to bridge the cultural realms between the physical and the digital, and unite visionary projects, builders, and artists.

Under Yana's guidance, 'Zora Zine' flourished, boasting features with icons such as Swiss art critic Hans Ulrich Obrist, Wired founder Kevin Kelly, and the “father of VR” Jaron Lanier. These collaborations underscored Yana's profound expertise and her team's genuine immersion in the forefront of cultural discourse.

Now, as she embarks on a fresh chapter leading brand at IYK, we speak with Yana to explore her excitement for this new role, her insights into defining 'it' in the world of web3, and more.

Hey Yana. Congratulations on the new gig with IYK. What are you most excited for? 

It’s a special feeling when you get to work on a project from its early stages. Especially when shaping a brand, for me it is an emotional process. It is like any other story, that should not only inform, but also resonate with people on some subconscious level. I’m also really intrigued by the opportunity to ignite a new user behaviour that hasn’t existed before. We haven’t adopted tapping our phones to objects or other phones yet. Adopting a new behaviour is always an interesting psychological puzzle and takes it time. IYK hopefully will be amongst those who will kickstart the new behaviour and that will unlock a lot of opportunities to connect any physical object to the internet.

Boys Club recently featured you as an ‘It Girl’ of web3. How do you define what ‘it’ means in web3 culture?

Information Technology? Jk.

For me it’s simple: taste and values. If a person has taste and cares for decentralisation, I’ll be curious to learn more about their work and thinking. When I say taste it is not just about fashion, there is taste in ideas, language, design, people. And it’s rare. 

As the founder of Perfect Number, how has your background in fashion influenced your approach to cultural strategy in web3?

I’ve been working in cultural production and storytelling since I was 16. Theatre, film, fashion, media. I understand how to ideate and execute a story of any medium quite well, as well as what the cultural community might appreciate. Many people in tech don’t know names like Rankin, Rem Koolhas or Mirko Borsche, and how significant each one of them is for a certain medium. My role is to introduce builders to important cultural producers and their ideas in order to produce quality creative work. 

I was always surrounded by other cultural producers so until I joined web3, I didn’t see it as my advantage, but working with technologists taught me how valuable cultural knowledge and storytelling is.

How would you describe your own fashion aesthetic? What’s your take on the current web3 fashion culture? 

My style was definitely formed by my youth in Moscow. Part of it is that always around local subcultures: in love with skateboarders and raving in the dusty warehouses since I was 16. Another part is my admiration for women’s power, thus I love exploring my own femininity. So I guess it’s a mixture of both.

I don’t think there is fashion culture in web3 at the moment. Except for Vitalik Buterin’s very distinct and authentic style I haven’t seen any culture-shaping cases. But I’m always impressed with Vitalik’s authenticity and desire to not play by the rules, I think it’s cool. I also don’t see much interest in fashion, history of fashion or design apart from a handful of people in the web3 community at large. Maybe it will change with time?

In late 2021, you spoke with Chase Chapman about how you would like for there to be more ways on web3 for someone to signal their taste. Since then, have you found it easier for someone to signal their taste on web3?

In my opinion, web3 in 2024 has a very different community than it had back in 2021. A lot of artists and cultural producers have left. Some because of the bear market, but many because the space had a hard pivot towards infrastructure building and focused on incentivising engineers. It’s not bad at all, but it did create an exile of creatives from space. So I think this question is less relevant at the moment. I’d be curious to see how it might evolve for the next bull cycle. 

Over the last two years, web2 fashion companies have made their foray into web3 but some see a cultural gap between fashion natives, and web3 fashion culture. Do you think this gap exists and if so, how do we close it?

I think it is okay that each industry has its own rules, objectives and speaks to different people. This helps society to be non-homogeneous and ensure people with different goals and likes can find like minded folks. I don’t have expectations for the traditional fashion brands to adopt the tech quickly, it’s just not what they do by default. It will kill their vibe and appeal. I’d rather them focus on fixing internal industry issues (such as lack of support towards the young talent or unethical production of mass-market brands)

I don’t expect technologists to have a deep and nuanced understanding of design, fashion or niche online cultural trends. Their strength is in another dimension. And this an opportunity for me to come in and build bridges between the two: technology and culture.

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Yana’s Taste

What are you listening to? Currently Faithless and their early 00s albums, it’s really matching my New York late winter mood.

What are three fashion items you’re really vibing right now? I gather most of the fashion inspiration when traveling. But the things that I can quickly indulge in at any moment are tees and jewellery. I love a second-hand tee with good graphics/font, I’m always on the hunt for these. Lately, I’ve been also investing time into finding micro niche jewellery designers who are usually doing one-of-a-kind pieces and they sometimes allow you to co-create with them.  

Hangout spots? I have two very different lifestyles between seasons, so this winter I’ve been mostly spending time reading as I am stuck in cold New York City, and barely went surfing in the tropical waters. But occasionally you can spot me at Greenpoint library, Printed Matters, Bar Laika or Tokio 7.

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