Women of the Future: Alissa Alekseeva of Dear Universe

Founder, Alissa Alekseeva, wearing the #DearUniverseRed, which represents, “Dear Universe, I’m a proud immigrant. I didn’t climb a wall to get here. It was more like Kilamanjaro.” Available soon on dearuniversenewyork.com for $55 USD. For each #dearuniversered item sold, 5% of proceeds are donated to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) to protect refugee and immigrant children from deportation.

The summer going into my senior year of college, I was more sure than ever that I wanted to go into fashion. I had spent three years interning at small fashion companies and tailoring my journalism major to cover all things fashion, and I was itching to get back to New York. When I applied to the internship program at Ralph Lauren, I was hopeful that I would get placed in advertising and styling working on shoots with collection pieces and taking a page out of The Devil Wears Prada. But when I was placed in Men’s Merchandising for Denim & Supply (a now dissolved brand of Ralph Lauren with a more bohemian, free spirit feel to it), I was excited to be in a corner of the company that was new, young, and fresh.

What I didn’t know was that my boss for the next three months would become a lifelong mentor and friend to me. Enter Alissa Alekseeva. Alissa taught me a lot that summer including how to create paginations, set up the showrooms for buyers, and how to act cool on very small shoots starring Jordan Barrett as the model, among endless other things. I always admired traits of Alissa’s that I attributed to her being from New Zealand - like her way of communicating in big meetings with a very chill but authoritative manor, her ability to bring light to any and every situation (not to mention her contagious laugh), and her chic style that never felt trendy in the sense that it would be out of style next season. 

Fast-forward to spring of 2019 when Alissa reached out to pick my brain about social media and told me that she was launching a brand called Dear Universe that she refrained from calling a fashion line. We laughed and caught up over scones, quiche, and french press coffee on her Williamsburg roof, and I was in awe with how all-encompassing this brand she was working on was to her as a person - inclusive, passionate, and thoughtful. 

That conversation led to a photoshoot that I was a part of not too long after, and the official launch of the brand just about a month ago, where the #DearUniverseGreen tee was debuted in honor of Earth Day, representing our love for mother nature. But it doesn’t end there. Each tee has a colored cloud, and each cloud represents something different. For each t-shirt bought, 5% of all proceeds go back to the charitable organization that is associated with that color, allowing you to express all that you stand for while also giving back to the cause. Below, Alissa and I chat everything Dear Universe, from where she finds inspiration, what led her to start her own brand, to what it means to be a part of the 1% of the apparel industry that uses fair-trade, organic cotton. 

Make sure to follow Dear Universe on Instagram at @DearUniverseNewYork.

What was your inspiration for creating Dear Universe?

I’ve been working in New York’s fashion industry for 8 years, my biggest realization moment, was when I was working for Ralph Lauren through a weekend. We were setting up the showroom for the next season, moving product around for hours, trying to set it up in the most impactful way, to entice our customers to invest more. At the time, I was annoyed that I had to work through a weekend, it made me look at how I was spending my time critically, more so than I had ever done in my job during the week. The thing that kept playing in my mind was - ‘none of this actually matters, because we’ll set up this season, it will go on sale in 3 months when we bring in the next season, and the only items we truly sell are the core colors anyway, which we always have in stock’. There was so much effort put in from so many people to fuel this markdown machine. So many talented people would work on these detailed concept stories and beautiful color assortments, which ultimately didn’t mean much to the end customer.

I wanted to create a brand that always and only offered core colors, without any markdown or waste. And I wanted the color that I do have, to mean something. Some other brands I admire are bullish about what they stand for, they emblazon their message on their clothing - but I found that that doesn’t invite a lot of conversation. If your shirt says ‘FEMINIST’, or ‘SAVE MOTHER EARTH’ there’s not too much to elaborate on. I wanted to create something that gives people the opportunity to share something meaningful to them, in their own way, on their own terms. 

Tell us a little about yourself. (Feel free to take this in any direction you want - can be career or personal story)

I was born in Russia, my family moved to New Zealand when I was 7, I then left home when I was 20 and moved to Canada for my final year of university. When I turned 22, I moved to New  York on my own, and haven’t left since. It’s my 10 year New York anniversary in July. I started out working in restaurants and night clubs - still some of of my favorite memories. I used to love getting a coffee at 9pm when I was heading into work, and then riding my bike home from lower east side to Williamsburg at 4.30am, I felt like I could do anything.

Growing up in New Zealand, I always felt like the foreign kid, and never quite felt like I belonged. When I went back to visit my extended family in Russia, I was foreign there too. Only when I moved to New York, I felt like I was truly home, and I could be whoever I wanted to be. I truly felt like New York loved me as much as I loved her (that’s the story behind the meaning of the black scribble cloud).

Me! Wearing #dearuniverseblack: Dear Universe, I love New York and she loves me back. Available soon on dearuniversenewyork.com for $55 USD, with 5% of all proceeds going back to Free Arts NYC, a nonprofit which delivers creative arts programs directly to low income, homeless, abused and neglected children.

Where do you find inspiration?

I think inspiration comes from the hard times. People say necessity is the mother of invention - that’s true because that person was so fed up doing something ‘the hard way’ that they had no choice but to create something to make it easier. So my advice to anyone going through hard times, is to look for that light of inspiration, and think - how can I use this.

At what point did you decide you wanted to start your own line and take a more entrepreneurial path?

I’ve always wanted to own my own business - and have found it difficult to stay within the bounds of society. I actually surprised myself when I completed my bachelor of business, because I stuck to something for those three years. And I continue to surprise myself in working in the corporate world for this long. But at the same time, I’m so grateful for the experiences that have led me to this point. Had I not had the corporate experience - I would find it a lot more difficult to get my business off the ground. The experiences that I’ve had, have made me super knowledgeable about the industry, and have allowed me to grow into a leader. They say that a lot of businesses fail because the founder was not ready to be a leader. I think that was true of me even last year. Good things take time, and I’m ready.

What’s your best advice for finding your voice?

Experience. Try as much as you can, in as many industries and facets of life as you can. This will help you gain an understanding for how stuff works, appreciation for craftsmanship, and empathy for all walks of life. Only then you’ll discover what you’re passionate about, and you’ll know how to have your own voice within that world.

Which Dear Universe color resonates most with you?

I am all of them! I’m a proud immigrant (red), who loves New York like she’s my mother (black). I think that it’s ok to love whoever you want (grey). I believe in total equality across gender (pink) and race (yellow). I’m a mega tree hugger (green) - no literally, I once spent 2 weeks at a cult in Italy, just meditating with the trees (we’ll save that story for the follow up interview). I believe you can achieve anything, if you work for it (blue). And I believe that love conquers all - but first, you have to love yourself (white).

Photographed above is #DearUniverseGreen, available on dearuniversenewyork.com for $55 USD. For each #dearuniversegreen item sold, 5 trees will be planted in the USA.

I love that Dear Universe is a part of the 1%. Can you elaborate on what that means?

Conventional cotton consumes 16% of the world's insecticides and requires $2 Billion in pesticides each year; this contaminates the soil on which the cotton crops are grown, the air we breathe and the water we drink. The deaths of animals exposed to these contaminants is counted in the millions every year. Organic cotton is grown without harmful chemicals, leaving the soil, air and water free from contaminants that cause harm. 

Global consumption of non-organic cotton also releases about 220 million tons of greenhouse gases each year. Organic cotton produces around 46% less CO2e.

2700 liters of water is used to make one conventional cotton t-shirt. An organic cotton t-shirt requires only 243 liters - 91% less than conventional.

Production of organic cotton is regulated around the world, and therefore is mostly fair trade, making the conditions much better for the workers.

Less than 1% of global cotton production is organic. We’re proud to be part of that 1%.