Rafael Schlaepfer

Rafael Schlaepfer (b. 1995, St. Gallen, Switzerland) is a multidisciplinary artist and clothing designer working at the intersection of fashion, performance art, and movement. He is based in Norway, and his roots in Switzerland, Jamaica, Cuba and Syria shape a visual language of his own — one that blends cultures, eras, and forms of expression.

That language begins in material. Schlaepfer grew up in a family with deep roots in the textile industry, at the renowned Swiss textile house Jakob Schlaepfer. It was an upbringing marked by fabric, texture, and craftsmanship, and it remains the basis of his understanding of material and his sense of form.

From that foundation, his work often takes the form of holistic experiences, where clothing design merges with ballet, improvisational dance, and performance. The result is fashion shows that challenge audience expectations and let the clothes speak through body and movement. With a futuristic twist and a clear sense of the ritualistic and poetic, Rafael Schlaepfer invites you into a universe where past and future collide.