Authenticity and Being Self-Made

An interview with designer and brand founder Vasja Cakic

Vasja is a young designer and business owner from Sydney, Australia. She currently lives in London pursuing her dreams of being a dressmaker and entrepreneur with a desire to make women feel confident, empowered, and beautiful. Following her lifelong love of fashion she designs her dresses singlehandedly from her home in Hampstead. Vasja prides herself on being self-made and sustainable - the heart and care she pours into her business is evident in its success and authenticity.

How did you first fall in love with fashion and knew it was something you wanted to pursue?

I’ve always loved art and creating things by hand. My Mum is a dressmaker and growing up she would make all the clothes for me and my sister. It always looked so fun to me and as a kid I would watch her sew or sit in her lap and pretend I was making dresses too!

She taught me the process of making a garment when I was about 16 years old. I learned from her just how intricate of a process it is and how long it can take to make a single piece. My Mum has a sewing shop in Sydney so I grew up constantly surrounded by clothes, fabric, and sewing.

As I grew up and started to buy more of my clothes, I became exposed to fast-fashion and soon discovered how much of the clothing industry is made up of things that aren’t handmade or designed to a good standard. I found that anything that was of good-quality was way too expensive, so I just continued to make everything myself.

I found that this was a gap in the market; well made, hand-crafted clothes that I wanted to see in shops that weren’t for an extortionate price. It felt like it was either Selfridges, or Shein and no inbetween. This is what motivated me to create my own business.

I began my brand when I was living in Australia and officially launched in 2019. It became a creative outlet for me and I would take a whole day to make 20 dresses. I loved the process of making everything myself as it just felt so natural.

How do you strive to incorporate sustainability into your work?

Sustainability is so important to me and my brand. It matters to me greatly that I support small businesses and seamstresses since I grew up in that environment from seeing my mum work in her shop. When I first started my brand I made everything myself and eventually reached out to small businesses and local dressmakers that I knew through my mum's business. Now that ‘Vasja’ is bigger I work with small businesses and manufacturers in Australia, rather than expanding to big factories.

I make lots of my garments made-to-order, therefore reducing wasted product. Either I will release a new piece with a limited number of stock, or I wait first to see how many orders there are before producing the garments. This reduces any wasted product and valuable material. If I ever have any leftover fabric I can use it to create a new garment. This also makes each piece feel so special to me as there are only a limited number of pieces.

I source a lot of my fabric secondhand from other designers that otherwise would be wasted. I also find material from small online retailers or stores I know in Sydney. I avoid buying mass-manufactured material as I want to be sustainable and authentic.

Can you talk a little about your brand identity - what is the message you are trying to tell with VASJA?

I take pride in my brand being a small business. I make my story and personality a central part of my brand story. I want it to be clear to my customers that I am a real person who came from Sydney and who genuinely just wants to make clothes that make women feel and look gorgeous.

I view the female body as a work of art. Most of my garments are form-fitting and flattering on curvy figures. These are the kinds of silhouettes that make me feel confident and sexy, so I wanted to make dresses for an audience with the same taste as me.

In 2023 I rebranded from ‘Kartini’ to ‘Vasja’. I totally changed my brand aesthetic and cleaned everything up. This was when I moved from Sydney to London and I knew I wanted to start taking my brand more seriously. I chose to name my brand after myself as I always hated my name growing up and this felt like a way for me to reclaim it. After all, it’s my brand so it should be named after me - I want to give myself the credit. Seeing my name on all the labels is so empowering to me.

What are the highlights of your brand journey so far?

Honestly, out of everything the moments that stand out to me the most are the small ones. Seeing my friends in my dresses and knowing that they love the designs is so special to me. One of my favourite memories is from a time I was at a party with all my friends and they all showed up in different pieces from my collection. I hadn’t even asked them to!

I’ve had many big moments such as celebrities wearing my dresses, but nothing compares to the feeling of seeing my loved ones wanting to wear my designs. Sometimes I even see strangers on the street wearing my clothes, or I have girls recognise me in Sydney - those are such cool experiences.

Also, developing my own brand has been a bonding experience for me with my mum and sister. We all connect on our shared love of sewing and we all contribute to the brand. My brand is my passion and all the work feels worth it when my friends and family reflect the success of the business.

VASJA:

Website: https://vasja.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byvasja/?hl=en

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