A conversation with Kate Zubarieva and Asya Varetsa
Circles close as life unfolds, and so too ends our collaboration with Sleeper. Our words have graced the digital pages and spaces of this proudly Ukrainian label since Spring/Summer 2021, as we worked alongside a talented team of creatives who carefully shape a vision where self-love sits at its very heart.
Asya Varetsa and Kate Zubarieva
Spearheading this movement are founders and friends, Kate Zubarieva and Asya Varetsa, who launched the label in 2014 after Kate dreamt seeing herself standing inside a pajama garment factory. From that singular intuition, Sleeper was born. Across the years, as the brand has evolved - garnering international recognition and industry-wide praise, including from Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani - it has remained committed to creating high-quality, multipurpose garments that help you feel beautiful, no matter if you’re wearing Sleeper on the streets or while chilling at home.
While its success has catapulted Sleeper into the limelight, the brand remains independent and infused with the very same grounded energy of beauty that brought it to life. It was this very energy that drew us to collaborate with Sleeper to begin with, its heart-centered values so closely aligned with our own.
Today, Sleeper is stocked in over 30 markets and almost 200 boutiques around the world, including Net-a-Porter, Browns and Farfetch, and is worn by everyone from Kate Moss to Eva Chen. Having successfully emerged from the difficult transition that the Ukrainian war brought, the brand continues to honour its roots, most recently launching the Sleeper Foundation to support initiatives and causes that sit close to the brand’s heart.
Embodying a purity of spirit, determination and appreciation for beauty in all its forms, Sleeper is a true reflection of Kate and Asya’s essence. In honour of our collaboration and as a wish for their continued evolution and success, we sat down and asked them ten questions drawn from the Proust Questionnaire - a questionnaire that originated from a parlour game popularised by French essayist Marcel Proust back in the 1900s, and which was designed to reveal the player’s true nature.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
This is a wholly inner awareness. Right now, I’m with beloved people, dining outdoors in the warm evening and laughing.
What is your current state of mind?
Good.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, who or what would she/he/it be and why?
Our best friend Marina - just told her that we would love to be her for a day.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
One thing - not to love carbs so much as we do.
What is your greatest regret?
We wish we could me more rude with some people and kinder with others :)
What is your most treasured possession?
Our relationships and the deep contact we have with ourselves.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Kindness and generosity.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Kindness and wit.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Our relationships.
What is your motto?
This too shall pass.