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Fashion in Helsinki highlights the most exciting new Finnish designers
Most of the Finnish capital’s annual event’s programme — focusing on creativity and young talent — will take place online, including Aalto University’s anticipated fashion show The Näytös 21.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
24 May 2021

Finland holds a unique position in the global fashion scene — in addition to high-quality design, it is also home to many ecological material innovations which can replace cotton and help solve the worldwide textile waste problem. The 15 Wonders exhibition features material experiments and bold visions by Aalto University fashion students and new sustainable material innovations, such as Bio2X, Infinited Fiber Company, and Ioncell. Co-produced by Juni Communication and Finnish Embassy in Berlin, it will travel to Berlin in July.

The website will feature fashion videos of new and upcoming brands, such as Hedvig, Rolf Ekroth, Paintings, The FNRM, and Ervin Latimer. The event also features collaborations between iconic Finnish design brands and young designers — a way for the up-and-coming designers to gain visibility, experience, and funding for their own brands. Those include textile company Vallila’s rainwear collection by Rolf Ekorth and Wataru Tominaga, a 2nd cycle collection by Ervin Latimer, and gardening brand Fiskar’s collaboration with Maria Korkeila. Fashion in Helsinki also presents collections by Aalto University students, such as Festival d’Hyères 2021 finalists Venla Elonsalo, Sofia Ilmonen, and Arttu Åfeldt.

What’s more, there will be a pop-up shop by Aalto University graduates Carolina Forss, Katariina Klimenko, Linda Kokkonen, and Ellen Rajala as well as an Aalto Fashion 21 exhibition with outfits from the Näytös21 fashion show, a show that will be presented via video, to be released on May 28 at 9 pm (EET) here.

This year’s Fashion Seminar also will be staged as an online event. Journalist Aino Frilander and designer Ervin Latimer will discuss creativity as well as reflect on inclusivity and marginalised identities in fashion design with Finnish and international fashion designers and specialists. Participants will include fashion designer Martine Rose, Celine’s show studio manager Kaisa Kinnunen, Vestoj’s founder and editor-in-chief Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, deputy editor in chief Vogue Italia and head of Vogue Talents Sara Maino and director of Cristóbal Balenciaga Museo Miren Vives Almandoz. The interviews will be published on May 27 online.

— Creative energy and new solutions will create a better tomorrow. While the pandemic has restricted the working conditions of young people, it has also enabled them to focus on creative work and finding new ideas. There is currently a strong drive to seek out more sustainable and responsible operational models, comments professor Pirjo Hirvonen from Aalto University.

Sofia Ilmonen’s collection
Photography: Veikko Kähkönen