Wilmington is full of hidden treasures. From movie stars to clothing designers, Wilmington always seems to surprise the average traveler or local resident. Just recently, Wilmington clothing designer Casey Crespo has crept out from underneath the radar and everyone in town is talking about it.
Crespo was born in Los Angeles, but spent most of her childhood in Burlington, N.C. and clothing design was something she did for fun.
“I definitely had to get creative and make my own fun growing up,” said Crespo. “My mom picked up a sewing machine off the side of the road for me when I was 11 and we got it serviced,” she said.
Crespo said she constantly made her own clothing out of vintage fabric that she picked up from thrift stores around town.
“I would just look at how clothes were made and go for it,” she said.
Following Burlington, Crespo traveled to Greensboro to pursue a degree in Consumer, Apparel and Retail Studies with a concentration in Design at The University of North Carolina Greensboro.
“They [The University of NC Greensboro] taught a lot about how to work in an established corporate environment, but not much about how to start your own clothing company – it’s a lot of trial and error,” Crespo said.
Shortly after graduating, she moved to Wilmington in 2008 for the beach and a job working as a Patternmaker/Technical Design Assistant for a small company in town. Crespo tried designing clothes right out of college, but found that the resources were hard to find. She waited until the spring of 2012 to officially launch her current clothing line.
“I worked in the entertainment industry for years setting up huge concerts, sewing for broadways, TV shows and movies,” said Crespo. “I wouldn’t be where I am not if it wasn’t for that.”
Crespo recently designed costumes for Iron Man 3 and Eastbound and Down. She has done work for One Tree Hill and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as well.
Crespo’s designs are not only creative, but comfortable—she keeps her clients in mind when designing.
“When a woman feels truly confident and comfortable with what she is wearing, there is no facet of her personality that isn’t affected by that heightened sense of self-assurance,” Crespo said.
Knit is one of Crespo’s favorite fabrics to work with due to how comfortable, practical and versatile it is. Right now she is focused on making clothing out of micro modal—a fabric made from the pulp of Beech Wood Trees.
“Micro modal is unbelievably soft and I love incorporating it into mesh designs,” she said.
Although Crespo does not currently have a store front, her clothing can be found online and at Edge of Urge on 18 Market St. in downtown Wilmington.
Store front or not, charity is important to Crespo. She donated five articles of clothing to the Aspen Aids Benefit Fashion Show during Aspen Fashion Week. She also donated part of her sales from the Indie Pop Shop last year to St. Mary Tileston Social Outreach.
In the future, Crespo hopes to own her own studio fully equipped with seamstresses, pattern makers, photographers, graphic designers, marketing people and interns. Until then check out all of the great press she is getting!