CASPER
Casper’s works are inspired by modern science fiction, fantasy movies, and underground fashion. The design combines bionic, Gothic and alien aesthetics.
The brand’s philosophy is to develop new shapes, upgrade and create unusual fashion accessories based on carabiners, hairpins, glasses, flash drives, keys, belts, etc. Most of the accessories are made entirely by hand using various non-standard materials: pewter, polymer resin, varnishes.
What led you to start your brand / begin creating fashion?
Denis: Probably my most cherished dream is to leave my mark on fashion on a global scale, but once it was just a childhood dream to become a designer. This dream is my main motivator in life and the brand exists because of it. I returned to my passion for upcycling during the pandemic and had no choice but to try to make money from my hobby. That period I lost all my jobs and stayed locked at home with my brand partner. But it turned out that it was the perfect moment to realize that dream.
Sasha: I had a lot of experience in fashion (I was a fashion photographer for 15 years), I saw that a lot of emerging talents went unnoticed and in 2019 I made an account on Instagram featuring contemporary artists and giving them publicity. The account became popular. And in 2020 I shifted to curating Denis’s designs as creative director. I see it as a logical continuation of my development.
What concept or message drives your work?
The concept is to create progressively new designs using non-standard materials and working with functional basic objects (carabiners, flash drives, watches, glasses, belts, hair clips and other accessories: chokers, rings, bracelets, pendants). The main inspiration is the love to alien aesthetics.
What’s your approach to design? Do you start from an image, a fabric, a feeling…?
Denis: I am a self-taught practitioner and I have no theoretical knowledge of design, but I compile the experience of previous professions in the field of fashion (upcycling, vintage sales, fasion merchandising and working as a stylist). Through manual creativity and experiments with different sort of materials I follow my imagination, find inspiration in fantastic and fantasy movies, underground fashion, and sometimes even see some designs in my dreams while sleeping. Sasha curates my designs in regards to new trends and marketing. She anticipates demand for some style beforehand.
How do you choose the materials or techniques you work with?
Denis: When creating accessories, I try to get ahead of time and find somthing unusual in shape, color, and execution. And I try to use materials that no one uses.
We also consider the commercial issues in advance: the possibility of replication, the cost of materials and payback.
After our technique in metal carbiners’ design began to actively plagiarize, I decided not to use this technique any more.
Do you have a mentor, figure, or brand that has deeply inspired you?
Denis: This is my brand partner Sasha. Her vision of contemporary fashion scene and her curated account became my main inspiration for starting my activity. And most of the artists featured there motivated me to continue to make art and believe in myself.
