In the dimly lit cinema room of her East London apartment building, Sano Turdiev settles into plush seating, her Rat and Boa look a splash of patterns against the dark theater. It’s a moment that perfectly captures the 27-year-old’s world of Instagram-influencing and modeling.
“I was a really outgoing kid,” she says. “When I was young I told my mom I wanted to model because one of my friends was a model.” That early hint of self-assurance would eventually carry her from her home in Montreal across an ocean to London where she now balances modeling gigs, influencer work, and a passion for interior design.
“I have a lot of colorful clothes in my closet,” Sano says. Thrifting plays a central role in her fashion statements too, like the leather jacket she found with a good friend six years ago when she first moved to London. “She got a matching one!”
Sano’s childhood was filled with family gatherings that would shape her understanding of belonging. “My family was always together,” she says. “My uncle would book giant houses for the entire extended family to stay in together, or reserve two rows at the theater so everyone could watch movies together.”
When her parents divorced around age 10, modeling took a backseat as her mother navigated the realities of single parenthood. By 18 she found herself adrift in college classrooms searching for direction. “I just didn’t feel a passion for school,” she says. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was always drawn to going back to modeling and felt it was my calling.”
Shared with two roommates, the space bears Sano’s careful touches throughout. In the bathroom she installed two wall lights flanking the mirror alongside a magnetic Miffy bunny lamp.
The pull was strong enough that at 20, she made a move to London that required pure faith. “I had never been to London or Europe before,” she says. “It was my first ‘big girl’ trip.” With minimal connections and no concrete plan, she gave herself a deadline. “I told myself that if in one month I didn’t find an agency, I’d go back to Canada.” Within weeks of arriving she’d signed with Elite Model Management.
Six years later Sano has carved out a career that’s entirely her own. Her work ranges from ongoing Calvin Klein collaborations to passion projects like her interior design Instagram, where she provides thoughtful commentary on architectural spaces. “I would see pages where they post interiors but they don’t really speak much about it,” she says. “I decided to do that but write about the spaces.”
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- “I just love little quirky lamps and things like that,” she says. “I love building LEGO sets too.”
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- The living room features a paper lamp and record player, while her bedroom serves as her primary sanctuary—a space filled with Studio Ghibli figurines collected during two months spent working in Seoul, and a novelty lighter from a Miami trip with her boyfriend.
Her Hoxton flat reflects her curatorial eye. Shared with two roommates, the space bears Sano’s careful touches throughout. In the bathroom, she installed two wall lights flanking the mirror alongside a magnetic Miffy bunny lamp. “I just love little quirky lamps and things like that,” she says. The living room features a paper lamp and record player, while her bedroom serves as her primary sanctuary—a space filled with Studio Ghibli figurines collected during two months spent working in Seoul, a novelty lighter from a Miami trip with her boyfriend, and prints from her own Sleek magazine calendar shoot.
“I love my room, it’s where I spend most of my time,” she says. “I have all my quirky things like the mirror and figurines from my travels. There are little things around the flat that are part of me.”
“I had never been to London or Europe before,” she says. “It was my first ‘big girl’ trip.” With minimal connections and no concrete plan, she gave herself a deadline. “I told myself that if in one month I didn’t find an agency, I’d go back to Canada.” Outfit from RAT & BOA
Her fashion sensibility proves to be equally thoughtful. “I’m pretty open to a lot of clothing, but I do like things to be made a certain way,” she says. “I want to wear things that are more thoughtful and creative. I have a lot of colorful clothes in my closet.” Thrifting plays a central role in her fashion statements too like the leather jacket she found with a good friend six years ago when she first moved to London. “She got a matching one!”
But perhaps the most significant thread running through Sano’s work is her connection to her cultural heritage. Returning to Central Asia as an adult two summers ago proved transformative. “It was amazing and emotional, but it felt nice to go back as an adult, because I hadn’t been there in 10-plus years, just to reconnect with family and roots. I’m Uyghur, so I like to talk about that and teach people about where I’m from and my culture. In the future I want to incorporate that more into what I do and my influencer work.”
“I just didn’t feel a passion for school,” she says. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was always drawn to going back to modeling and felt it was my calling.” Above: Sano in her flat’s community theater room. Outfit by TANK AIR
Food serves as one of the most tangible bridges between her past and present. “I love anything that’s Asian—Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Uyghur, Uzbek,” she says. But it’s the simple comfort meals that ground her most deeply. “There’s a dish I’ve been eating since I was a child. It’s the easiest meal to cook using just onions, potatoes, and eggs. It’s very Soviet Union, but it’s a comfort meal for me.”
When it comes to future plans, Sano maintains a refreshing openness. “When I was younger, there were so many things I wanted to do, but now I just want to keep doing what I’m doing,” she says. She says set design increasingly intrigues her, a natural extension of her eye for spaces and storytelling.
“I’ve always thought I should materialize that somehow. It would be nice to be behind the camera for a change.”
A version of this article originally appeared in Sixtysix Issue 15.
