Introduce yourself in a few sentences. Who are you, where do you live, and what makes you tick?

We are Lera & Lisa, best friends tied together by our profound hunger for deep connection and since one year ago - by co-owning natural wine shop in Amsterdam, too! We are both driven by never ending quest in searching for our own Holy Grail, purpose, belonging.

What are you working on this year?

Expanding our network & socialising more actively. Lera is more brave, Lisa is more communicative while both of us being simultaneously content with each other’s which stops us from expanding our hermeneutical circle. So this year we are trying to highlight the best in each other, say ‘yes’ to any personal adventures while being attentive to our inner epiphanies and weaponise this progress for our business growth as well.

What’s inspiring you right now?

Lisa: solo day trips to nature, anything obscure, sad perverted philosophers, collaborating with passionate, empathetic and thoughtful people (shoutout to everyone who co-hosts events with us & September bar&restaurant!)

Lera: practicing yoga (I’ve managed to do headstand recently! now the goal is to be able to do a cartwheel… both sober & drunk), my recent trip back home to Ukraine

What city has influenced you the most? Why?

Lera: Town where I grew up in south of Ukraine, Nova Kakhovka, which is currently occupied by Russian forces. I had the happiest childhood and teenage years there, filled with typical edgy teen dynamics, beautiful nature sceneries, people who are all so strange and authentic it is kind of unbelievable. The tastiest bread, cakes and my first wine.

Lisa: my home town Odesa, also south of Ukraine, seaside resort. I think Odesa is a perfect contender for magical realism literature, it’s kind of so full of autopoetical myths that probably every person who ever been there has their own bibliotheque of perceptions about this city. Cats, sea, insane people on the verge of being book characters, dream-like state, lucidity.

What does living a good life mean to you?

Lera: to find a place that will genuinely feel like a home to me.

Lisa: being present and fulfilled, which feels like gentle fresh breeze from a window when you nap on a warm summer afternoon. Finding balance between my love for extremities and tranquility, being more than just a functional conformist. Essentially, striving to transcend and transgress, finding something absolute.

What’s something you wish you’d known 5 years ago?

Lera: save money!!! to fulfil a dream of a long extensive road trip through whole Ukraine, talk to loved ones about death and what happens after their death.

Lisa: learn how to use guns and first aid, not everything has depth even though it seems so, your sensitivity doesn’t absolve you of responsibility.

What’s your idea of the perfect Saturday?

Lera: I wish not to be perceived on Saturdays

Lisa: travelling somewhere near the dunes and sea on a hot day, finding nude beach and spending afternoon with a book there, feeling primordial and grounded

What brands are you loving right now?

Lisa: two brands from Odesa, U SO NICE (available in Amsterdam!) and The Sunny Clothes (60% of my wardrobe is their sexy dresses).

Lera: Ukrainian brands of course! White Sprut (better than aesop haha), GUNIA project (beautiful tableware inspired by Ukrainian traditional motives & ornaments), Unmere (sexy and powerful clothing).

Finally, give us a hotspot in your city, or a city you love!

We actually share a morbid hobby - visiting cemeteries in every city we are. It’s a memento mori practice, it’s beautiful and of course peaceful, and it amazes us how tenderly funny can people be even after death. Lera’s favourite cemetery is De Nieuwe Ooster in Amsterdam, Lisa’s is Verano Monumental Cemetery in Rome.