Igor Pacemski-Jones is the founder of the Noblesse Oblige brand which has been round more than a decade but was revitalised and relaunched in 2024. Igor joined forces with Angela Blundell of Concrete Concept Agency with her wealth of brand experience and it has entered the ranks of the ASOS offer for lingerie. Underlines caught up with Igor to find out how he sees the future for the lingrie label.
Tell us about Noblesse Oblige
Noblesse Oblige was originally founded in 2015 and ran until 2020, when COVID forced the brand into hiatus. It was relaunched in 2024 after I left Calvin Klein, with a very clear intention: to build a label that genuinely delivers on the promises many brands only claim to make—European production, sustainability, accessibility, inclusivity and design-led, technically sophisticated product.
I come from the late-90s era, when branding ruled everything. With Noblesse Oblige, I wanted to create something closer to an ‘anti-brand’—a label where the focus is entirely on the product, rather than the brand envelope, which can sometimes feel like the emperor’s new clothes.
In terms of audience, it’s deliberately broad. It’s less about age and more about cultural alignment—people who respond to thoughtful design, inclusivity and intelligent construction.
When did your collaboration with Angela begin?
Angela and I first met at a Wonderland show in Marshall Street in January 2024. She immediately responded to the directional, slightly unusual nature of the collection.
We met again at One Marylebone in July 2024, and that’s when we decided to work together in earnest. Angela and her team have done an incredible job of understanding the product, curating it with care, and placing it with the right accounts—ensuring strong sell-through and the right positioning.
Your background?
I was born in North Macedonia during the years of former Yugoslavia and educated in the UK. I attended Uppingham, a boarding school that really changed my perspective on life.
My academic path was quite unusual: a degree in quantum chemistry, a master’s in polymer science,and an MBA at Warwick. I’m very much a left- and right-brain person—I love numbers as much as I love sketching.
Over the years I’ve worked with brands such as Coco de Mer, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein in roles ranging from design director to commercial lead and CEO.
What is different about working in this sector?
I started in lingerie at Coco de Mer in 2002, during a very exciting period. Brands like Damaris, Fleur of England, Myla and others created a buzzing London scene that lasted for years. Today, Fleur and I are among the few designers from that era still actively running brands.
Compared to sectors like banking or corporate environments, lingerie is vastly underrated in terms of complexity. You’re dealing with huge size matrices, intricate supply chains and extremely technical fit challenges.
To most people, it’s “just knickers,” but in reality it’s one of the most complex product categories in fashion.
A typical week?
It’s incredibly varied. I live in Rotterdam, which is vibrant and energetic, and as an expat I tend to gravitate towards Soho Houses as working hubs.
A typical week might involve meetings with our PR agency in Amsterdam, working closely with Angela on sell-through and financials, or coordinating with factories and supply chain partners. One day I might be handling IT integrations; the next I could be flying to a factory to oversee ASOS production, reviewing couture samples, or speaking with investors and industry stakeholders.
It’s busy, but never dull.
What is the best thing about your job?
The variety—and the constant balance between creative and financial thinking. Very few industries allow you to operate at that intersection and it’s something I genuinely love.
If you were not working in this industry, what would you be doing instead?
As a child, I wanted to be a cook. I had a French cookbook and was fascinated by the elaborate tables of Parisian hotels—it felt like another universe compared to my fairly spartan upbringing in Eastern Europe.
Later, when I became more aware of my academic abilities, I wanted to become a doctor. That’s something I still regret not pursuing. Studying medicine in the UK as an international student in the 1990s was extremely expensive, with almost no scholarships available.
Any other ambitions for the brand or new developments?
The ambition is for Noblesse Oblige to become a global reference point for fashion-forward, accessible, intelligent lingerie design.
Alongside the ASOS launch, we’re also preparing launches with Wehkamp and About You, which reflects the type of partners we naturally align with—high-traffic, digital-first, modern platforms.
On a product level, I genuinely love designing bras, so expanding that part of the collection is a very natural next step.
Your greatest challenge?
Finance is always a challenge for a small brand—balancing growth with available resources. But a bigger challenge was temporarily giving up control of the brand during an investment phase. That’s something I wouldn’t repeat.
Operationally, the complexity of option counts—especially with wired bras and stockholding—is significant. With European production, we can maintain smaller, rolling stock across many SKUs, which gives the brand stronger visibility across platforms. That flexibility is a major advantage, but it requires careful planning.
Proudest moment to date?
There have been a few. One was having an on-schedule event at London Fashion Week with Boudoir, a lingerie curation that really helped put the category on the map.
Another was looking out from my office at Ralph Lauren in Midtown and thinking, “Good God, I’m Rachel Green.”
But above all, restarting the brand, standing up for my position, and then seeing Angela deliver ASOS—which always felt like a holy grail account—has been incredibly meaningful.
Worst move so far?
Temporarily giving up control of the brand. That was painful. I also underestimated the complexity of small-quantity lingerie production.
Economies of scale matter, and if you want to remain small and exclusive, it takes years to learn how to manage that efficiently. I have that knowledge now, but the process was difficult.
What do you think you will be doing in 10 years’ time?
Hopefully the same thing, but with more global success and a certain ease.
I strongly believe in building teams based on value and meritocracy. I’ve seen too many businesses damaged by politics, ego and the over-promotion of weak professionals. The world I’d like to build is one based on competence and fairness.
The one product you can’t live without?
Personally, it’s our mesh tops with the fun prints—I wear them myself as layering pieces.
For the brand, it would have to be the long romper: an open-leg, lace-trimmed, soft-cup piece with a naked back and halter tie. It’s utterly impractical, yet it sells consistently.
What I really want to know is: who is she? Who is the woman wandering around her house all day in an open-back romper and a Swan kimono? Hopefully I’ll meet her one day.
