Daria moved from Moscow to New York almost 10 years ago and made her way from modeling and operating a children spa salon to designing handmade children clothes for DISA NYC. Photographer Zoe Adlersberg met her and her two sons Shia, 5 and Sidney 3 and half, in her Brooklyn studio. Daria is happily married to the founder of fancy.com, who supports her and helps her with Disa.

Best of New York

Memories of moments or situations you loved with Shia and Sidney When my boys pointed out and recognized the Flatiron building for the first time. They were so happy to see it as they just learned and read about it in school.

3 favorite New York ideas Local sushi restaurant called Hibino, they make rice rolls for the kids without the fish, now my boys proudly tell everyone that they eat sushi.  Jane’s carousel in Dumbo is amazing – it’s vintage and has beautiful details. 
“Construction kids” for taking classes or having parties: kids make skateboards, spaceships etc. out of the real wood with the real tools: hammers, nails etc.

Family Life

Your favorite family movie to see again and again We just recently introduced our kids to the “grown up” movies and Ninja Turtles circa 1990 has been a hit!

Shia and Sidney are…My sons are amazing, kind, very observing, and they surprise me every day with their way of seeing the world!

A big dream To expand our family, start a side project or two (maybe a jewelry or accessories line).

La vie en rose Definitely to have all of our family members somewhere on the beach, kids would run around barefoot and wild, and everyone just enjoying the time together.

 Internet to your family is A limited pleasure. And a lifesaver on the planes of course. I’ve been googling tons of images for my husband to draw for the kids per their request, so the internet can be helpful in the “art” department as well as educational.

Best music album to listen to as a family John Legend “Love in the future”. Or kids radio stations.

About yourself

Your best mothering moment When one of the boys would drop anything to save his brother. They are very protective of each other and work as a team which is very touching.

The worst mothering moment I guess it’s not really the worst mothering moment because they learn from it, but it’s painful to see them being deeply upset about something important to them, that i can’t fix, and when they are figuring out that life isn’t always fair, it’s sad!

About balancing motherhood and work I don’t think this balance is hard to achieve for me personally: the kids and family always come first, so the emails get answered at night, phone calls during naps etc. I feel very lucky to be able to call my “work” my passion and I go with the quote “love what you do and never work a day in your life”.

Favorite Photography/art masters Does a graffiti master count? I like Banksy and any artist who has original ideas and knows how to express them in a way that us regular folks can enjoy!

Sources of  inspiration The kids and their point of view on this world. Nature (colors of the ocean, sand, parrots, the list goes on), my home country.

A memory or image from your childhood Summers spent at my country house near Moscow with my big family. Resting on our hammock between the trees, smelling the fresh-cut grass and eating strawberries right out of the garden… I had a wonderful childhood!


zoe adlersberg