Diversity is in my nature – Alex Caprice

I always loved designing, creating something distinctive, that no one else had. The Alex Caprice brand is a great passion of mine, but as we all know, the business aspect of it all and a positive financial result are required to achieve the full extent of happiness.

The Alex Caprice brand is your passion, your business, or maybe your “caprice”, as the name would suggest?
(laughs) Obviously, the name is not coincidental. Everything started in 2009, with a “caprice”. Colourful jackets, that was one of my crazy ideas, which at first I only worked on as a hobby. I was curious, I wanted to show others my vision and see if they liked it. That’s how it started, I had a lot of fun doing it. I remember how much joy it was, to create the fabric patterns for the first collection of jackets, everything I made I “tailored on my buddies”. I always loved designing, creating something distinctive, that no one else had. The Alex Caprice brand is a great passion of mine, but as we all know, the business aspect of it all and a positive financial result are required to achieve the full extent of happiness. I treat it very seriously and despite many obstacles along the way and the fashion market I decided to crack being one of the hardest, I have clear goals and I intend to achieve them. I know that hard work will make Alex Caprice a world-renowned brand some day and my jackets will become “must have” for every self-confident man in every part of the globe.

Alex, there’s a new collection in your boutique, called Freedom Collection.  To our surprise, you’ve also designed a line for women. What motivated this decision?
I decided to design a women’s jacket collection for pragmatic reasons. From the very beginning, the women who accompanied our clients during shopping marvelled at the men’s jackets. A few times we designed custom-made female variants. The more frequent those cases became, the more I thought about a women’s collection. Finally, I made the decision and so now we have a jacket line for women.

Both the women’s and men’s collections are called Freedom Collection. What inspired you to name it that way?
Freedom is self-explanatory. With this new collection I wanted to capture this idea. Although the men’s jackets and vests are still made in an elegant, English style, they’re suitable not only for official business meetings, but also go great with the more causal parts of your wardrobe – casual shoes, jeans, chinos or lifestyle accessories. Besides, as with previous collections, you can buy the jackets and vests in the ready to wear line or get them tailor-made in the made to measure line. In that second case the clients can choose their own accessories, like the colour of the lining, the type of fabric of the patches for the elbows and the colour of the buttons. This is another aspect of the sense of freedom.

Who is this year’s collection aimed at?
The Freedom Collection line is for independent, enterprising people who want to stand out. My clients include businessmen, architects and show business stars who value uniqueness and want to emphasize their individualism.

Can you buy ready-made jackets at your boutique?
Of course. As I mentioned before, at the boutique you can buy ready-made jackets and vest (the ready to wear line), as well as custom-made ones (the made to measure line).

Who participated in the Freedom Collection campaign?
The faces of this year’s collection were the beautiful Miss Poland 2010, Agata Szewioła, model Piotr obtułowicz and actor Marek Kacper Krupski, who in my opinion perfectly conveyed the sense of freedom through their clothing style and manner.

How long does one have to wait for their custommade jacket?
You wait 14 workdays for a made to measure jacket. Sometimes it can be less, but I’d rather surprise someone on the phone about their jacket or vest being finished, than to excuse myself for a delay.

From what you’re saying I take it you’ve got a very business-oriented approach, which rarely goes side by side with the so-called ‘artistic soul’. I also know fashion is not your only occupation. So…
Thanks for the compliment. I get my entrepreneurship from my parents who, as long as I remember, run various own businesses. So, as I like to call it, I had a ‘good foundation’. I gained my own experience working on Alex Caprice. I’ve come to know the world of show business, celebrities and media. Over all those years I’ve invested a lot of resources into building up my brand, knowledge and connections. During those 7 years I’ve learned to combine creativity with business. I’ve broadened my horizons and that’s how the Caprice Factory production company started. Yes, that’s another “caprice” (laughs). I record promotional shorts, ads, music videos, i.a. for charity, as well as provide public relations services and organize events. To me, practice, not theory, is the best teacher. By learning on our own mistakes, we gain more knowledge and experience. I am also a manager of development and an agent in a Danish company called Hesalight, which designs and manufactures LED lighting.

You’ve mentioned charity work. Could you tell us anything else about it?
Once a year, before the Holidays, I hold a campaign for children from an orphanage near Warsaw. The main goal is to fulfil a list of needs provided by the headmaster. It’s a simple and effective concept and an interesting opportunity for many companies. We invite guest stars to create a song, then we film a music video with them and with product placements of the brands and products of our sponsors and partners who support this noble cause. We also run a bank account number of the orphanage, so people can make donations. This is a nationwide event under the patronage of the media. The last project guest-starred Barbara Kurdej-Szatan and her husband Rafał Szatan. Their song “To była noc” moved a lot of people, the YouTube video had 70 000 hits alone. We had the patronage of the radio, our stars where the guests of breakfast shows “Dzień Dobry TVN” and “Pytanie Na Śniadanie”. Even though we were in a hurry to organize the project, we were able to raise a lot more than we planned. Each of those project gives us a real sense of gratification and supplies us with positive energy for the whole next year.
Alex, thank you for this inspiring interview, we wish you continued success!