After Skywalkers: A Love Story star Angela Nikolau wore Sofi&Co Family during her headline-making Empire State Building climb, the Bali-born label took its story to the runway in Los Angeles — and is now expanding its online presence internationally.
LOS ANGELES, CA — September 2026 — Sofi&Co Family began thousands of miles away from New York and Los Angeles, on the island of Bali.
Today, the independent fashion label is entering a new chapter: expanding internationally online after a journey that has taken it from its Bali roots to one of the most recognizable skylines in the world, a runway in Bel Air, and fashion-media coverage in both the United States and Europe.
But for founder and designer Sofiia Shcherbakova, the story has never simply been about clothes.
It has always been about movement.
About what happens when you stop waiting to become fearless — and move anyway.
From Bali to the New York Skyline
One of the moments that first brought Sofi&Co Family to a wider international audience happened far away from the island where it began.
In July 2026, renowned urban climber Angela Nikolau, known internationally from the Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, climbed to the top of New York City’s Empire State Building alongside Ivan Beerkus.
At the top of the iconic skyscraper, the couple unfurled a message about peace. During the extraordinary moment, Beerkus proposed.
Nikolau said yes.
And throughout the climb and proposal, she was wearing a Sofi&Co Family catsuit.
It was not a traditional advertising campaign.
It was not a staged fashion shoot.
A piece created by an independent brand born in Bali had unexpectedly become part of a moment seen far beyond the world where the label began — a story about courage, love and risk.
For Shcherbakova, the symbolism went beyond the visibility of the brand.
A woman known for confronting extraordinary heights was wearing Sofi&Co Family during a moment defined by exactly the idea that had been quietly growing inside the brand for years:
“Fear does not have to disappear before you move.”
Sometimes, you simply have to go anyway.
That idea would soon become the center of Sofi&Co Family’s next chapter.
The Other Side of Fear
Just weeks later, Sofi&Co Family brought that philosophy to the runway in Los Angeles.
In August 2026, the brand presented its 11-look show, “The Other Side of Fear,” during LA Swim Week in Bel Air.
The presentation was designed as more than a traditional runway.
Models appeared in masks. Handwritten postcards became part of the experience. Live vocals accompanied the show.
And behind everything was one question:
What exists on the other side of fear?
For Shcherbakova, courage is not the absence of fear. It is the decision to continue despite it.
“We often think we need to stop being afraid before we can do something important,” she says. “But I don’t think that moment always comes. Sometimes you are scared, and you still take the next step. And that step changes everything.”
It is a philosophy that has followed Sofi&Co Family almost unintentionally — from Bali to New York and then to the runway in Los Angeles.
And after the show, the story began traveling again.
From the Runway to International Fashion Media
Following the Los Angeles presentation, Sofi&Co Family began receiving fashion-media coverage on both sides of the Atlantic.
Fashion Week Online in the United States told the story of the brand’s journey from the Empire State Building moment to its LA Swim Week runway.
Then Milan-based fashion publication Milano Fashion World published its own editorial feature on The Other Side of Fear, releasing the story in both English and Italian.
For an independent label that began on a small island thousands of miles away, seeing its story move from Bali to New York, Los Angeles and European fashion media marked a meaningful new stage.
But for Shcherbakova, the attention matters only if people also understand what the brand is trying to say.
And that story began with a much quieter moment.
The Idea Behind Sofi&Co Family
The philosophy of Sofi&Co Family began with a simple, personal experience.
When Shcherbakova first put on one of the brand’s earliest sets, her first feeling was not that something about her needed to change.
It was the opposite.
She noticed how beautiful she already felt.
And that feeling created a completely different kind of motivation — not a desire to fix herself, but to take care of herself, develop herself and emphasize what was already there.
That moment became an important part of the philosophy behind Sofi&Co Family.
The brand is not about telling women who they should become in order to feel beautiful.
It is about creating clothing that can help them notice the beauty that is already theirs — and perhaps inspire them to explore what else is possible from a place of appreciation rather than rejection.
For Sofi&Co Family, self-love and self-development are not opposites.
Growth does not always have to begin with wanting to change yourself.
Sometimes it can begin with wanting to become even more of yourself.
More Than a Name
That philosophy also explains the final word in the brand’s name:
Family.
Sofi&Co Family was never intended to belong to one country.
The brand was born in Bali, but Shcherbakova sees its community as something without geographical borders.
A woman discovering Sofi&Co in California can share something with someone walking into its flagship store in Canggu, Bali — or discovering the collection online from Europe or another part of the world.
They may have completely different bodies, cultures, languages and lives.
But they can still recognize something in each other.
The brand summarizes that belief with a simple phrase:
“We are all the big family.”
It is a reminder that behind fashion, countries, ambition and everything people use to define themselves, there is still something deeply human connecting them.
From Bali to the World
Sofi&Co Family is now entering its next stage.
Alongside its physical presence in Bali, the brand is developing its international online business and making its collections available to customers across the United States and internationally.
The ambition is global.
But Shcherbakova does not want scale to erase the intimacy that created the brand.
The clothes should still feel personal.
The message should still feel human.
And every new country should feel less like entering another market and more like welcoming another person into the family.
What began in Bali has already traveled to the New York skyline, to a runway in Bel Air and into fashion publications in the United States and Milan.
Where it goes next remains unwritten.
Perhaps that is appropriate for a brand building its newest chapter around one central idea:
The most interesting part of life often begins on the other side of fear.
About Sofi&Co Family
Sofi&Co Family is an independent fashion label founded by designer and entrepreneur Sofiia Shcherbakova.
Born in Bali and now developing its presence internationally, Sofi&Co Family creates clothing around movement, self-expression, confidence and the belief that personal growth can begin from self-love rather than self-rejection.
The brand operates its flagship store in Canggu, Bali, while expanding its international online presence.
Its philosophy is captured in a simple message:
“We are all The big Family.”
Discover Sofi&Co Family and shop the collection at soficofamily.com.
by UFIRST Production
Instagram: @soficofamily
Press: [email protected]
