The fashion industry is embracing the 3D-technology and virtual reality in terms of design, production, and retail.
We wanted to introduce these possibilities in the form of a seminar.

With the coordination of Professor Kirsi Niinimäki and Lecturer Ilona Hyötyläinen, the seminar had five speakers, including:

-Rikhard Lindkvist from Atacac

 -Lotta Jurica from Adidas

 -Pekka Salokannel, Industrial Designer

-Daniel Seo from Clo

 -Tuukka Takala virtual reality researcher from Aalto University

The seminar was open to all fashion professionals and students and we hope it will generate discussion of the future of fashion design.

PatternLab2018, the yearly textile and surface design project in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, has sold ten percent of their collection. During the past years, PatternLab teams have sold hundreds of patterns to a large number of companies in industries such as fashion, textile, paper products and interiors. This year, however, they have broken all previous sales records. Sales were also strong at the biggest international trade fair for home and contract textiles, the Heimtextil fair in Frankfurt in January.

he work that has been done over the years has now really begun to bear fruit. Especially the decision to strengthen the PatternLab brand among consumers a couple of years ago has been a really good solution. Sales were great last year, but this year we have sold over 50 items in a very short time. It is a great achievement for this freelance designers’ collection”, rejoices Adjunct Professor Maarit Salolainen from Aalto University.

The PatternLab brand is also featured already for the third time  in cooperation with Serla on kitchen rolls and in co-operation with Stockmann. The products have hang tags mentioning that the design is made by PatternLab team. This is a mutual benefit: companies get the advantage of co-operation with young designers and the designers get their works presented. In addition, the team has made a few design briefs.

“We are really proud of ourselves! We have acquired a tremendous number of new customers with pure hard work. Every group member has taken responsibility for acquiring new customers and arranging sales meetings. It has been a collective effort made with great sense of togetherness and positive mindset”, tells Eveliina Netti, the Chair of PatternLab2018.

Towards the international market

PatternLab aims at creating a large, professional surface design collection. During the year long project students learn how to design and coordinate surface designs for various application areas. They also learn how to work as a team creating commercial designs in a real business environment for domestic and international clients. The designs are promoted at key international industry fairs and in customer meetings in Finland and in the Nordic countries.

“We have created beautiful, successful collections that work on many different levels. Our surfaces make a versatile yet compatible set, that gives something for everyone”, Netti emphasizes. The PatternLab2018 team has twelve young designers with a fresh vision and strong professionality.

PatternLab has helped many prominent surface designers, collectives and companies to start their career for over fifteen years. Amongst others, the Young Designer of the Year Reeta Ek is a PatternLab alumni. A group of students, that is guided by teachers who are actively working in the surface and collection design, works like a professional level company that sells surface designs in Finland and the international market. PatternLab has been progressively cultivating its brand since 1999 with the collective effort of over 200 design students.

The surface design project is supervised by Maarit Salolainen and lecturer Maija Fagerlund, and it is a Department of Design Minor organized by the MA programme for Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design. The students are across the different programmes in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

For more information:

Adjunct Professor Maarit Salolainen, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, maarit.salolainen@aalto.fi

Chair of PatternLab2018 Eveliina Netti, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, eveliina.netti@aalto.fi

http://patternlab.aalto.fi

 

The purpose of the prize awarded by Design Forum Finland is to encourage young designers to carry on uncompromising and original work in design. The prize sum is 5,000 EUR and it includes an exhibition.

Reeta Ek (MA, graduated 2015) is a freelance designer living and working in Helsinki. She has created textile designs for companies such as Marimekko, Lapuan Kankurit, Nanso, and Samuji, among others. Typical of her designs are repetition and rhythm, born along with the creative working process and drawing by hand. Reeta Ek also does graphic design and illustrations.

What does the Young Designer’s award mean to you?
– The prize was a complete surprise to me. I am really impressed and grateful for this recognition, especially since it is not possible to apply, but it is granted for the work done. This encourages my own work and style. I am particularly pleased that I am the first textile designer, to whom the prize is awarded. I believe that my colleagues too are happy about this, says Ek.

What do you think the award will give you as a textile artist?
– Maybe it gives more credibility. Textile design as a form of design may not always be noted. The prize brings reputation especially in Finland, but I believe that it can also be of importance internationally, since Finland is known for design. I hope it will also open up opportunities to focus more on creating new material and developing ideas.

The expertise of textile design is highlighted
Adjunct professor Maarit Salolainen of Aalto University is also delighted about the prize, which finally brings out the textile expertise behind Aalto University’s highly acclaimed fashion expertise. In her opinion, the success needs both the elaborate textiles and a new type of pedagogy in textile design.
– It’s amazing that the award came this time for a textile design and surface designer. Textile designer’s skill also includes the ability of structural textile design, that is the design for woven or knitted fabrics. It is not enough just to be able to paint beautiful patterns, but it is essential to understand how to draft these images to stunning fabrics, Salolainen emphasizes.Since 1999 Aalto University has been training commercial surface designers who understand marketing and sales in the PatternLab project. Reeta Ek is also a PatternLab

Since 1999 Aalto University has been training commercial surface designers who understand marketing and sales in the PatternLab project. Reeta Ek is also a PatternLab alumni from 2012.

Strong expertise and original design
According to the prize jury, Reeta Ek is a fine example of a professional, creative young designer whose exposure and success in Finland has been based more on strong professional skill than an efficiently marketed designer brand. Reeta Ek has a unique and distinctive style, and her works combine intense sensitivity with a strong, articulate execution. She has been involved in various comebacks of Finnish brands, designing printed and woven patterns that have resonated with consumers and resulted in commercial success. Reeta Ek represents the common method of modern textile designers where independent work and various collaboration projects have a natural rotation. The works and visual identity of Ek form a very distinctive, fresh, timeless and lucid repertory.

The Young Designer of the Year prize was established in 2000 and it is awarded now for the 16th time.

YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2017, 7–16 September 2017
Espa Stage, Pohjoisesplanadi 1, Helsinki
Exhibition open Mon–Fri noon–6pm, Sat noon–4pm, Sun closed, free entrance

More info:
http://www.trendtablet.com/4155-talking-textiles/
http://www.textilemonth.nyc
https://events.newschool.edu/event/talking_textiles_5547#.WalhVK3MzBI

Crossing over Boundaries through Experimental Pedagogy

One paper on the Experimental Textile Design module (ETD) was co-authored by Maarit Salolainen, Jouni Partanen, Oldouz Moslemian, Eeva Suorlahti, Panu Kiviluoma and Kirsi Niinimäki.

Abstract:
This paper describes an experimental teaching platform, which aims to cross over boundaries to educate future designers and engineers. The Experimental Textile Design module (ETD) is a multidisciplinary set of courses developed under Fashion, Clothing, and Textile Design program within School of Arts, Design and Architecture in cooperation with The School of Engineering at Aalto University. Through redoing design pedagogy by opening the world of engineering to design students and especially by exposing design methodologies and the visual research processes to engineering students, we can help collaborative teams to redo the future.

Download the paper: ETD

“CHEMARTSING” – an experimental, multidisciplinary, collaborative and future oriented pedagogy with wood based biomaterials

The other paper on the CHEMARTS collaboration was co-authored by Pirjo Kääriäinen, Kirsi Niinimäki and Andreas Lindberg.

Abstract:
Aalto University’s CHEMARTS is a collaborative platform seeking to combine design and science. CHEMARTS has two main objectives: to inspire future designers and material scientists to work together solving the complicated problems related to production and use of materials, and to create novel sustainable biomaterial innovations for the future. In order to enable these objectives in higher education, an environment dominated by disciplinary pedagogical traditions, a set of completely new pedagogical approaches needs to be constructed. This paper presents a case study of CHEMARTS courses where new experimental pedagogical approaches have been tested.

Download the paper: CHEMARTSING

More information about the conference: http://cumuluskolding2017.org

Video sketch about the conference: https://vimeo.com/219830208

Finnish textile company Lapuan Kankurit and Aalto University have collaborated in several ways over the last few years. In the current collections of Lapuan Kankurit, various designs from PatternLab and Aalto Alumni can be found.

Now for the third year in a row, students from FaCT have got a chance to industrially weave their own designs in the weaving mill of Lapuan Kankurit. Students from the course Woven Fabrics and Jacquard Workshop have carefully prepared their designs as well as detailed instructions from the Aalto weaving studio. With the help of ‘loom-master’ in Lapuan Kankurit, the designs are woven into beautiful meters of fabric. In addition to the fabric, students have got a priceless experience of adjusting their design into industrial weaving.

The fabrics woven in Lapuan Kankurit have been a base for many successful fashion collections, exhibitions, theses and furniture projects. In 2016, Maria Korkeila found from Lapuan Kankurit a center piece for her successful fashion collection selected in the finale of the Festival d’Hyères. Not surprisingly, the collection was praised, especially for its materials.

Photo: Lapuan Kankurit

The winner of Designers’ Nest Award FW2017 was Reea Marie Peltola from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (MA FaCT).

The jury was especially impressed by the: “Sensitivity towards materials. The shapes are flared and makes you want to wear them. The collection re-interprets the feminine silhouette with a focus on tactility.”

The 2nd place went to Anna Sarasoja from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture (BA Fashion). The judges appreciate her: “Combined technique with innovative craftsmanship. An architectural approach to designing with the concept of tying broken pieces together. Versatility is another keyword.”

The Eyes on Talents Special Mention went to Riikka Buri from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture (BA Fashion alumna). She was “awarded for her fusion of technical and sportswear elements and materials with a feminine silhouette.”

The winners of the leading Nordic design contest, Designers’ Nest Award and the Eyes on Talents Special Mention FW17 was announced following the show in Copenhagen. The design talent & award show is organized by Revolver Cph Int. Fashion Trade Show in collaboration with Eyes on Talents.

In 2015, the Swedish fashion company H&M and Aalto University collaborated for the first time in a print and surface design project. It was an immediate success and continued with a second collaboration in September 2016. All the 17 students participating in the course chose their own category and designed a print collection for the target customer. During the course the students got tutoring from both the team at H&M and Aalto University teachers. In December 2016 the course came to and end with a final presentation of the students work. The H&M team chose three winners who will get a placement at the fashion company in Stockholm, Sweden. This years winners are Netta Törmälä, Kristiina Hansen-Haug and Helmi Liikanen. A big congratulation!

The course consists of innovative concept making, draping, sketching and pattern making. The students will also work with a five-chapter textile collection.

We have a lot of experience working with students from all over the world, […] we invite and challenge students to work intuitively, spontaneously, to share their thoughts and to work together on the spot, having fun and without any fear or shame.

— Saskia van Gelder about the course.