Fashion in Helsinki 2024
*Old Threads, New Wonders
written Chidozie Obasi
Something the contemporary luxury market said about the unnecessary pace of change in the industry got Finnish designers thinking about how to shape-shift from their customary minimal take into a more subversive appeal.
“There’s beauty in creating something timeless and seasonless, that you can wear on a wealth of occasions—cashmere, merino wool and cotton are all part of the Scandi equation—but the trick comes with making a dress a favourite piece with an elevated seam,” pondered ALMADA LABEL’s Alexa Dagmar and Linda Juhola. Just like many of their peers, that's where they started for their brand, which looks to elevate timeless classics (cue: knits) into a refreshing slew of smart essentials.
So why, one wonders, is their collection so insistent about a silhouette that was essentially a wear-anywhere knit? There were multi versions with a delicate belt, a satin style with romantic sleeves, and one with an elegant waistline. Granted, we're talking Scandi fashion, so there's a possibility that a knit suit might indeed be a favourite piece. But some of these pieces will have to work at becoming wardrobe staples. The most disconcerting feature was the neutrality of the palette used that was present across the toppers and had little-to-no newness in tonal range.
©Atlas Woo
©Atlas Woo
Fashion In Helsinki 2024
©Atlas Woo
But despite all manner of heaviness, the label has a solid, show-worthy ground that will most definitely work in their favour with retailers. Speaking of solid identities—and all the creative sensibilities this term harmonises—Fashion in Helsinki is one such example: as the chief platform for emerging talents in Finnish fashion, this season it showcased the country’s creativity teamed with the designers’ artistic practice through presentations and talks to local and global consumers.
Organised by Juni Communication, the event featured a collective runway show that comprised revered Scandi designers Sofia Ilmonen, ROLF EKROTH, HEDVIG, Jenny Hytönen and VAIN, together with a runway that championed students from Aalto University for the rise and rise of their remarkable talent. Both runways have had a fresh impact on the Finnish fashion scene, because change is very much at the core of their idea. And that's usually a good thing.
Fashion In Helsinki 2024
NAÌYTOÌS RUNWAY
©Kristian Presnal
©Kristian Presnal
©Kristian Presnal
This season, the runways relied heavily on two distinct visual resources: emotion and abstraction, detaching from the common threads of minimalism and focusing on an avant-garde aestheticism that imbued novelty and took it to the extreme. Unlike the brands we came across in the showroom tour (which had a more commercially-appetible vein, in tandem with current market needs), there was a newever edge that took the Finnish fashion industry by storm. A somewhat relaxed chaos, peculiarly present across the collection of Aalto’s students which have shown a shrewd identity not only in garment construction, but also in their respective ethical function. The myriad of upcycling techniques that were used in these sophomore collections were indeed worthy of note, because of the clever marriage of material and experimentation, which usher a new creative equation that looks to sustainability and functionality.
What’s more, the impressive cultural tapestry of Finland spans across its huge array of references that continue to deliver meticulous ideas from the country’s designers—an impressive symbol of growth that will herald a positive development for their businesses. Their winning ticket? “Not having to shout!” exclaims Finnish designer Sofia Ilmonen. “Because at times, it’s the simple gestures that make for the most compelling craft.”