CLUJ OFFICE VIRTUAL TOUR
This is where at least half of the INFSD is found. And I say half because the other half is in-the-making, in the new space in Bucharest. Our INFSD office and showroom in Cluj Napoca, a space where we worked (and continue to work) with great love, a space that represents us, a place where creative ideas ignite and come to life, in the form of our INFSD products .
The idea of ​​our business started - like many others - from a necessity. I was primarily looking for a true XS in swimwear, a swimsuit with a certain outfit, a panty that doesn't hang on you when you get out of the pool or the sea, a bra that fits, a cool print, something other than the eternal stripes and prince parsley in all colors - what we did not find until that moment, no matter how many clothes we "passed through our hands". A few years ago I decided together with my best friend, Carmen, that it would be time to start a business that would bring to the market another kind of bathing suit . One that fits super well on the body, that gives you an advantage, one that you can also go to a beach party in Ibiza and somewhere in the club, a piece that is actually more than a swimsuit, a versatile item to keep in your wardrobe and your heart for a long, long time.
The beginnings were difficult. Like any start in a business. First of all, because we didn't have a cart of money to invest - we each came with about 5000 euros from home, we put them in an account as a company loan and from there we immediately moved to the HUB in Cluj , a creative place that was actually our office and headquarters for a few months, until we were able to launch. I still remember how Carmen and I used to pack 40 parcels a day, but we just wouldn't get the last few orders. But they did it all the time. And it was good. Then he joined the INFSD team – Teo. Teo who will soon return to work from maternity leave. We've been through a lot together, we've had many, many challenges to face - like any young brand. Finally, the time came to find our own place and we moved to a real office, just ours, a smaller creative hub where we now "live" in Cluj together with Ingrid Teodosiu .
You also know, it's the place where we also held the Blog Sale parties, where we're waiting for you whenever you need (you always have to bring a coffee, though). Although it took us about a year to remodel and decorate the space, we are here happy to say: WE DID IT. And we did it our way.
Today I want to give you a little tour of our blog office + INFSD, where all things related to our creative work are happening now and tell you a little bit about each object part by part - how we chose them and why, who I worked with and so on. Maybe it will help you at some point when you need everything we had in our office. Let's start, press play, we're changing the mood:
The statement piece of the showroom is the marble office table designed for us by the people at Furniture line – I waited a super long time because they were just then moving their design workshop from one side to another, but it was so worth it. It's the central piece that sets the mood for the entire office, it certainly is my favorite design object from the whole room. I searched for a long time, together with Laur Stănescu and Carmen, for that marble - which would resemble the print on our boxes. We clearly wanted a premium product that was custom-made for our office. The legs have also been redone twice for the folks at Linia Furniture are super perfectionists. What can I say, the pictures speak for themselves, the piece is a work of art.
This was the first office version. The first days.
Second option, I temporarily had a very nice wood and epoxy desk table from Irene's Furniture. Particularly beautiful in design, but small for the number of people there were.
The final version came after a good few months – quite difficult to transport / assemble, but again – so worth it, this is the current INFSD desk by Furniture line . (Thanks guys for the help)
The next very BIG thing, another element that I am hopelessly in love with are the luminous letters that I made at Letter Factory. We wanted the logo you know from the INFSD box to come to life and light up the showroom so we called on some people who have been doing this for a while and they do it very well. Fast, at a good price, customized. As they themselves say, "The factory was born from NEED to complete a design project, where a customized light installation was requested. Already having its own production workshop (Atelier Moldoveanu), making the letters was as easy as it was full of satisfaction. Later, word by word, the letters came to life in an independent project, where everything is possible." – I also liked the fact that everything went like clockwork, I sent them an email with what we needed, our logo in vector format, and they got to work right away. I highly recommend them to anyone for indoor/outdoor light advertising or any design project, however daring. What can I say, I like people who don't say "it's not possible".
My office chair (which Pufi keeps stealing from me) is actually the chair I had at home in my former apartment in the dressing room – a chair I made to order on the ourdesign website. ro – it can of course also be done on other materials/colors, it's super comfortable and at least at our house it gave the dressing room a more feminine touch. Everything is a bit pink here at the office anyway, so that wasn't the case, but it's very nice to sit on it, which is why everyone steals it from me. Ba Teo, ba Pufi, at Luci's. We currently have some simple white chairs at our office in Cluj, six in number, which we plan to replace with pink velvet ones, strictly because we want something more comfortable and pleasant. If we are still sitting at the office so much, at least let's sit well, I say.
The sofa, another behemoth – this time delivered by Ikea, was a quick and easy alegre. I needed a sofa like YESTERDAY if possible, a big, light pink one - don't get me wrong I love it , but we have a lot of work to do - the covers need to be washed at least once a month, because they get dirty quickly. Again, worth it , you find it here at Ikea. I haven't moved it yet because I don't really have anywhere - I'm ruining the shooting studio, but I have a strong impression that I'd like to see it for at least a month, on the other side. Is this a woman's job? That I keep hearing more and more women moving furniture around the house - and not just to wipe the dust. Hahaha.
On the coffee table side, we have a 3-in-1 from Irene's Furniture, where we found many variations of rose gold items as metallic accents. Below are some photos that you've probably seen over time on my Instagram. I really like the combination of powder pink, rose-gold and glossy black, and this coffee table fits perfectly into the landscape, plus it's modular.
Also from Irene's Furniture we have other rose gold details through the chandeliers – three in number, along the desk table and a leg lamp, which sits next to the sofa and is very useful at night. Yes, we often stay at the office at night, when video editing takes too long, or we have a shoot.
The cherry stool is a piece I found online on Meli Melo Deco – where I invite you to take a look, they bring in some gorgeous velvet products from time to time – now they have some emerald green stools that go well too with shades of dusty pink or burgundy, depending on the occasion and decor.
We are also soon to receive the bathroom furniture that we once again made to order through a contact received from Daniel, from Irene's World . Speaking of Irene's , keep an eye on their Instagram profile, I just went to the first of many design events on Thursday - if you're interested in the field, follow them for an invite.
This is the packing area for our INFSD parcels – we opted for a white chest of drawers from Ikea. I recently ordered another one that is waiting to be installed. Both serve as both a storage area and a packing front for the packages that leave for our #InfusedGirls every day.
Just today I was walking through Iulius Mall through the shops and I saw everywhere neon, neon, neon and then I thought - look what it actually means to do a quality trend forecasting, a few years in advance - to intuit what is going to happen it is worn - because we left the INFSD NEONS collection in the fall of 2018 and now we see it - at the mass market level, neon, everywhere. It's a good integration, anyway. Let's see what next season brings in terms of colors and textures.
Sport Couture Just Cavalli Heartbreaker T-shirts / Sport Couture Zadig & Voltaire Trousers / Zara Sandals
The white lamp below is from Diana Buga - I just changed it so I'll be back soon with an update picture, because it was the very entrance piece where we still need to update the area. For now there we have a coffee maker, a black mini-fridge (you can also find it here), a wall full of paintings / pages from magazines and the mirror waiting for a custom made frame. This is what our first creative space looks like, our first INFSD office, we hope for more, who knows, maybe at some point we will open an office in Miami or in Bali, Thailand - from the series never say never and dream big