Born and raised in Siberia, Russia, Sascha Hosey shares her incredible story of moving to America, and how her families generations of fur hat making inspired her to create these beautiful 3D Printed Headdresses.
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? Where are you located?
My studio is located in Weehawken, NJ. I love the unobstructed NYC views from NJ side – it inspires me to create especially around sunsets – the big apple is shimmering with all shades of gold bouncing around the skyscrapers.
What’s the story behind your designs? What inspires you?
Before I tell you how I came up with the idea to make 3D printed headpieces, let me tell you why I have a knack and passion for creating fashion items. I was born and raised in Siberia, Russia. My grandmother was an entrepreneur and had her own fur hat business. She would purchase rigid, untreated fur at the farm, soften it and make fur hats all by hand, and sell them at the local market in the freezing weather. Her hard work and dedication instilled in me a high level of discipline and commitment to pursuing my goals. My mom was an ENT doctor but she would also sew hats at night and on the weekends to supplement her income and support my older brother and I. She was a single mother. Enduring hardship early on in life made me appreciate the little things so much more and be grateful for all the abundance, comfort, and prosperity that I’ve created for myself. When I immigrated to the States at 19 years old all by myself, I was unstoppable in achieving things others could only dream of. It felt like nothing could hamper my personal and emotional growth and success. Then, the recession hit, and it became extremely difficult to survive, and, without the support of my family, it was that much harder to make ends meet. (Skype didn’t exist back then…we would go for months without even talking to each other) I got a Master’s degree in Marketing and Business, followed by a job as a marketing executive at a restaurant in LES, NY.
I decided to start my own fashion line to challenge myself. Boy, did I find that challenge and mert my fair share of disappointment along the way. All of the mishaps and failures on my path were huge learning experiences. I realized that the fashion industry is run by (for the most part) big egos, and fortunes are made by child labor and overworked, underpaid people in third world countries; it’s the industry that completely disregards the environment and wastes precious resources of those countries while producing disposable clothes that do not disintegrate naturally and create enormous amounts of waste. Many fast fashion retailers were able to hook people with super effective marketing messages that subconsciously forced them to crave more, buy more, and worry about the next big trend. I was faced with a conscientious and moral crisis. I lost my drive to make clothes and decided to get back into marketing so that I could help people establish an online presence and pursue their passion to create sustainable products, ease our CO2 footprint, and make the world a better, kinder place.
In the meantime, my openness and adventurous spirit brought me to Burning Man in 2011. There, I met so many likeminded people who were changing the world by applying 10 BM principles in their lives:
Radical Inclusion
Gifting
Decommodification
Radical self-reliance
Radical self-expression
Communal efforts
Civic responsibility
Leaving no trace
Participation
Immediacy
The Burning Man experience completely changed the outlook I had on life. I realized how much potential we have to change things and how collectively powerful we can be by spreading love and sharing passion for sustainable living, spirituality, and mindfulness. A couple of years later my dear husband and I attended BM inspired parties here in NYC and something clicked: I realized that all of these people need headpieces, because it’s the hardest thing to make for a complete look. The lead times for hand made headpieces that are on the market are very long and designers cannot make enough headgear for all of the festival-goers. With the rise of 3D technology and Shapeways, I decided to give it a try and the very first piece we made was a complete success. It fit perfectly and was durable, lightweight and looked stunning. I was ecstatic because working with and making something special for Burners or any festival-goers is a dream come true. In addition, bypassing traditional fashion production made it so much more pleasant and fun adding peace of mind to the process. I always considered myself a geek, and, now, I work with legit technology geeks to make fun, creative headpieces come alive.
My inspiration comes from my friends, their passions and aspirations. I’m creating versatile collections for different characters. I’m living my dream.
What brought you to 3D printing with Shapeways?
Our friends Lana and John Briscella, – designers of the 3D printed jewelry, founders of AminimalStudio.com recommended Shapeways to me.
How did you learn how to design in 3D?
I didn’t. I have an innate talent for drawing with a pencil. Ever since i was taught to draw in high school my works were frequently featured in various exhibits. So i just sketch my designs by pencil and the modelers create a digital blueprint of it in Rhino before we sent it to Shapeways to print.
How do you promote your work?
I wear my designs to parties. I vend at popular festivals. I hire amazing talent to do editorials. I garner the power of social media and word of mouth which spreads like a wild fire especially when the product is as unique as kova by sascha headpieces.
Who are your favorite designers or artists? Who in the Shapeways community has served as an inspiration to you?
I really like Eric Ho for his cute figurines, great marketing effort and ability to have his hand on the pulse of what’s trending.
Artur Dabrowski makes really creative designs as well.
If you weren’t limited by current technologies, what would you want to make using 3D printing?
Who said that we are limited?!? Definitely not with Shapeways…:)
Thank you Kat! You are the best! <3