How This Former Fashion Editor Started Beloved Nightwear Brand Sleeper

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Beloved by style icons like Leandra Medine and celebrities such as Chloë Grace Moretz, Dakota Fanning, and Zoey Deutch, Sleeper has easily won the hearts of the fashion community. Inspired to create transitional pajamas that were comfortable enough for a night in and chic enough to wear out at any hour, Asya Varetsa has built a successful nightwear brand alongside her co-founder Kate Zubarieva—with no fashion design experience whatsoever. Sleeper has now transitioned into a luxurious collection of pajamas, linen midi dresses fit for any beach destination, and sophisticated silk slip dresses sold on major retailers such as Moda Operandi, Net-a-Porter, and Shopbop. Impressively, the brand generated $4 million in revenue last year alone since its initial investment of $2000 in 2014 without any outside investment. 

Prior to Sleeper, Varetsa began her career at an advertising agency and then as a fashion market editor for Elle Russia for three years, where she fully immersed herself in the fashion world by traveling on shoots, logistically coordinating designer samples from all around the world, and ultimately having an inside look into how exactly the industry worked. Eventually, Varetsa left Elle and moved to Kiev. There, Varetsa and Zubarieva noticed the growing trend of working remotely and found the need to dress up for oneself; thus, Sleeper was born. "We achieved milestones in our past careers, so our individual experiences pushed us to create something new, something that belonged to us,” Varetsa commented to Second Life.

Head to iTunes to subscribe to Second Life, and listen to this brand-new episode to hear all about how Varetsa applied her past experience to create a brilliant sleepwear brand. And keep scrolling to shop our favorite pieces from Sleeper.