About
Born 1985 in Paris area, Damien has grown up surrounded by knitting machines from his family company. He started working with his family in 2008 first operating on knitting machine then as knitting machine programmer soon after.
He has participated in several trainings as a programmer and his endless curiosity for knitting technique helps him to continuously evolve, especially for interest in 3D/seamless knitting since his beginning in the knitting industry. That leads him to always think how to make products with techniques that few experts mastered.
He often went to Japan and had the opportunity to visit different knitters and Japanese knitting machine builder. He worked at SJ LA MANUFACTURE, branch of Tricots Saint James Brand, awarded with the EPV (Living Heritage Company) for French firms in Normandy during four years, as a knitting machine programmer , for high fashion houses and designers witch provided him many different styles of development.
In 2020 he left Normandy for the Netherlands, mainly as knitting product developer at the TexitielMuseum.
In 2007 she arrives in Paris and start working for Ultramod Mercerie, very motivated to start this experience because she found this famous haberdashery living in Japan and by coincidence after reading some articles in the Figaro Japon magazine edition.
From 2012 she travels regularly to Japan to hold pop-up stores in different cities like Tokyo and Kumamoto. The product craft-made that Momoko sells in Japan is part of a combined selection of a well understanding in how to produce a selective designs created with Damien Semerdjian, Momoko’s husband.
This activity is continued with lot of success selling in the pop-up stores until 2015 when she decided to grow up more learning other skills as linking sewing technique, this experience took part in one of the biggest knitting factories in Niigata Japan. In this factory Momoko have the opportunity to learn from skilled linking technicians using high prototypes from famous fashion brands and Japanese designers.
Momoko also has the chance to work in the fashion biggest event in France as interpreter during several Paris Fashion Weeks for the Japanese company Isetan, which is one of the most well-known companies of department stores in all Japan.
During the time that she used to work in this famous international fashion event, as an interpreter for the Japanese buyers in 2014, she gained invaluable great experience and confidence working side by side with big and important talents from the fashion fields, especially when as a designer is very important to know how to choose the best items, and also how to do business with the most famous brands worldwide.
In 2015 this craft-woman return from Japan to France, and have the opportunity to work in Normandy as linking specialist at Tricots Saint James Brand, awarded with the EPV (Living Heritage Company) for French firms for almost five years.
The experience in Tricots Saint James for Momoko started learning all the process to make high quality products in a small team, mainly for high fashion brands as Balmain, Lanvin, Nina Ricci, Lemaire and Courrèges.
She is in charge of the prototyping high-end knitted garments exposed in fashion shows.
Momoko also have to take part in the quality control section of the company, ensuring that the defected items will be repaired and mended to be sent to the different brands clients.
Working in Japan and France have made a challenge for this artist, she has grown up enough in the knitted world circle with the most professional people giving to her the experience to create SEMODA, which is Momoko’s company.
All pictures copyrighted @Lara Ayvazoglu