The Näytös24-award went to Petra Lehtinen for her MA thesis collection av yv. The jury for the award consisted of Stephanie D’Heygere, Annabel Fernandes, Ane Lynge-Jorlén and Antti Kekki.

Read the description of Petra’s work below.

Petra Lehtinen’s graduate collection “av yv” (meaning: an online marketplace shorthand term in Finnish and translates as “preliminary reservations, direct message”) explores garments that are removed from the wardrobe, but which are still kept by storing them in personal storage spaces. By studying the significance of archives in fashion, the concept of the collection is to bring clothes back from the archives, and to transform them from being unnecessary and space-consuming to being important by naming them as an actual archive. This act has guided Lehtinen’s creative process while also serving all the material for the new collection.

– Despite my initial intention to sell or repurpose clothes, they persisted in storage, lingering in bags and vacuum- sealed pouches, shuttling from one storage location to another during my relocations. This collection delves into capturing the intricate relationship that consumers, especially myself, have with garments in the era of mass consumption, Lehtinen explains.

Lehtinen sees the absurdity of contemporary consumption culture as worth documenting. Inspired by art movements like Nouveau Realisme and the Duchampian readymades, the collection involves direct appropriation of reality, such as garments sealed in vacuum bags. Lehtinen also drew inspiration from individual garments from the archive and how clothes are typically combined and layered in them. One of the designer’s once cherished objects was a silk shirt with an apple print and the text “SILK APPLE IN PARADISE”. It also engendered Lehtinen’s method of a “serpent-cut technique”, where archive pieces are combined with a spiralling cut.

– I identify with the sentiment expressed by the artist Andrea Zittel who finds satisfaction in self-made creative constraints. Similarly, my work questions what freedom really means as it is framed by capitalist society – perhaps the only way to be free is to make our own rules and criteria that fit within the rules already placed upon us.

By choosing to work with readymade materials, Lehtinen’s aim was to redirect the time designers usually spend browsing through fabric suppliers to the creative work and problem-solving. The temporal
aspect also connected to the concept of the archive by acknowledging that it has actually taken years to subconsciously collect the items in it.

@aalto_fashion

Näyttely24 is a new event launched this year, and the award for it went to Venla Elonsalo for her MA thesis collection I Weave Clothes. The jury for the award consisted of Stephanie D’Heygere, Annabel Fernandes, Ane Lynge-Jorlén and Antti Kekki.

Read the description of Venla’s work below.

I Weave Clothes by Venla Elonsalo explores the design and production of multilayered woven garments and accessories that do not require any sewing. The collection is a woven collaboration with a Turkish weaving mill, Vanelli.

– Combining the expertise and facilities at Vanelli with my creative pattern cutting and textile design skills opens new realms to design possibilities in whole-garment weaving, Elonsalo says.

Cloth-weaving and garment construction are combined into one step. The fabric layers interweave together creating three- dimensional textile-forms. Both textile design and creative pattern cutting play an integral role in the design process. The weaving is done with industrial jacquard weaving machines. Therefore, the loom sets limitations for designs because the garments need to lay completely flat and fit into the weave repeat.

With her graduate project, Elonsalo challenges the conventional fashion system and supports woven textile-form design research. The combination of four-layered garment flattening, surface patterns, and fulling creates an artistic contribution. The work also provides utility beyond aesthetic novelty, by reviewing how digital tools have been implemented in the design process. These tools include clothing and textile simulation software CLO3D and Shima Seiki’s ApexFiz.

– I find it fascinating how complex three-dimensional forms can be created within weaving, a binary system, by either lifting or not lifting the warp yarns.

The main material used is wool. This enables fulled finishing, which is done after weaving and before cutting to prevent fraying of the cloth. Small details like metal fasteners help balance the softness of the fulled wool. Colors and the exaggerated seams communicate the four-layered woven garment construction visually. This offers an introspective view into the creation process by providing insight into the design process. Works by Maison Margiela, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo have inspired Elonsalo’s concept creation.

– I experienced a sense of contentment when I figured out how the two-dimensional cloth could be converted into wearable three-dimensional form. My intention is to cultivate a similar sense of joy when my designs are experienced.

The use of industrial weaving machines supports made-to-order production. Making garments on-demand is usually difficult to achieve at a price point that is comparable with conventionally produced products. However, when production is developed toward automation, it is more profitable to construct garments in high wage economies.

Even though post-weaving cutting is required, there is a significant reduction in manual construction steps compared to the industry standard cut-and-sew production. Currently, it is possible to knit whole garments industrially. However, for weaving, the development is still in the beginning. That is why I Weave Clothes thrives to find solutions that inspire the development of multi-layered woven garments that will revolutionize the fashion making process of today.

@aalto_fashion

Additionally, Aalto Fashion launches a new event for 2024: Näyttely24, an annual exhibition showcasing graduate collections from BA and MA students.

The annual awards were granted to the graduates. Find all the awards and the winners below:

Näytös24 award: Petra Lehtinen / Näyttely24 award: Venla Elonsalo

Jury:

Stephanie D’Heygere, creative director and senior designer
Annabel Fernandes, image and communications specialist
Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Director of ALPHA, an organisation that supports and empowers emerging Nordic fashion designers internationally
Antti Kekki, graphic designer

Espoo award: Minerva Skyttä

Given by Jukka Mäkelä, Mayor of Espoo

Youth jury:
Akseli Rakkola
Emilia Hänninen
Otso Pöntys
Sofia Garmash
Yandi Koka
Aapu Prokki

Jury mentor: Ervin Latimer, designer

Marimekko award: Jere Vilo

Jury:

Satu Maaranen, Head Designer
Emmakaisa Kirves, Design Director of Ready-to-Wear and Bags & Accessories

Fiskars award: Lauri Greis

Jury:

Petteri Masalin, Chief Design Officer
Vesa Kemppainen, Art Director
Noora Hostikka, PR Director

Konstsamfundet award: Lauri Greis

Jury:

Cilla Lönnqvist, Board Member, Board of Directors at Amos Rex
Leif Jakobsson, Director of Svenska Kulturfonden
Kieran Long, Museum Director at Amos Rex

Emma Museum award: Enni Lähderinne

Jury:

Pilvi Kalhama, Executive Director
Reetta Kalajo, Chief Curator
Salla Engström, Chief Shop Manager
Iris Suomi,  Chief Marketing Communications Specialist
Saara Suojoki, Development Director

Congratulations to all winners and all the graduates!

@aalto_fashion

Read Aalto ARTS News article

The winning prize is 50,000 Danish kroner (ca. 6 700 euro), a study trip to UEDA College of Fashion in Osaka, Japan and a unique trophy created by artist Karl Monies. Koivula was also awarded a place in the upcoming exhibition ‘Nordic Fashion Now: Knitwear and Print’ at the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, together with finalist Sasha Heinsaar from The Swedish School of Textiles in Sweden.

In addition, a paid internship in Paris at MM6 Margiela was awarded to Kaapo Sinervo from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

Among the ten designer finalists this season were three graduates from Aalto University: Hanna Hanhela, Tuuli-Tytti Koivula, Kaapo Sinervo – together with other finalists Hedvig Ljungström, Marie-Louise Guldbæk Andersen, Desirée Bjurinder Fritzon, Elma Leminen, Julie Lundgaard Christophersen, Samuel Westerberg and Sasha Heinsaar.

See more:

Aalto Fashion – Tuuli-Tytti Koivula’s collection in Näytös 22

Alpha Fashion Competition

Students from Aalto University in Hyères fashion competition finals

Juha Vehmaanperä MA student

Sini Saavala MA student – L’Atelier des Matières Prize

Jenny Hytönen BA alumni – Grand prize and Audience Award

Jenny Hytönen’s winning collection called “Untitled” is based on a contrast of sensitivity and roughness: it is a combination of crystal-embroidered, transparent mesh fabrics and heavily riveted leather.

The collection was topped by the “Cyborg,” which featured a bridal veil incorporating 25,000 glass beads hand placed during the knitting process, and an LED bodysuit with a heart sensor that materialized the wearer’s heartbeat with pulsating lights.

Glenn Martens, Chairman of the Jury of the Hyères Fashion Competition and Creative Director of Y/Project and Diesel, praised Hytönen’s collection in Women’s wear daily magazine for “a perfect design, but one that showed extreme creativity”.

Jenny Hytönen

Hytönen is a fashion designer who graduated from Aalto University with a major in fashion and is currently interning with Belgian designer Olivier Theyskens in Paris. Last year, her collection won the Aalto University’s Näytös21 Award, the jury describing the collection as impressive, balanced and mature.

In Hyères, Hytönen will receive a €20 000 grant from fashion house Chanel and fashion trade fair organiser Première Vision, as well as the opportunity to create capsule collections for ready-to-wear brand Icicle and Parisian department store Galeries Lafayette.

Sini Saavala

In addition to Hytönen, the final of the fashion competition saw also an MA sudent Sini Saavala and recent graduate Juha Vehmaanperä from Aalto University’s major in fashion. Saavala won the L’Atelier des Matières prize with her “Unwearable” collection. She used 90% recycled materials, such as sweaty cotton undershirts and vintage underwear dyed in the era. This is the first time the prize has been awarded in Hyères and it highlights the importance of recycling.

Read more

Aalto University News – Jenny Hytönen wins the Hyères International Fashion Competition

As the textile and fashion industries are undergoing significant turmoil, the urgent need for solutions to critical challenges, from overproduction, irresponsible waste, and supply chain management to the exhaustive use of natural resources, grows greater.

The new generation of textile and fashion designers is crucial to unlocking these challenges, together with the introduction of groundbreaking novel processes and material innovations that offer smart, circular alternatives for the materials in use today.

DIALOGUES is a transatlantic showcase of creative design work, material solutions and design pedagogy offering a platform for cross-sectoral dialogue on textile futures across borders. The exhibition and seminar take place in New York City from November 2nd to 6th as part of the New York Textile Month 2022.

The exhibition presents an interplay between the contemporary textile and fashion design practices by master’s students of Fashion and Textile Design at Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Finland and MFA Textiles Programme at Parsons in the United States. The seminar connects creatives, educators, innovators, and leaders from Finland and the US to reimagine the landscape of tomorrow’s textiles and fashion, driving a shared dialogue spanning over continents and into the future.

The projects from Aalto University include a research-driven project on compression textiles used in healthcare, a study on natural dyes that originate from food waste, and the dialogue between light-emitting technology and textiles, combining material science and traditional weaving.

“Aalto University with its six schools forms a multidisciplinary environment, which sets the scene for the student’s studies. The focus of the curation is on practice-led research and creative future solutions. Textile thinking and studio pedagogy, highlighted by the newly published book Interwoven – Exploring Mate-rials and Structures, stand at the forefront of this exhibition, as they are the base for textile design studies at Aalto. We are delighted to share our textile stories with the MFA Textiles of Parsons in this New York Textile Month event. New innovations for textile futures come from shared passion, creative dialogues and interaction.” notes Maarit Salolainen, head of the Master’s in Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design at Aalto University.

DIALOGUES is presented by Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Parsons School of Design, The Consulate General of Finland in New York, The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, Business Finland, and Juni Communication, in collaboration with New York Textile Month.

Aalto Students taking part in the exhibition:

Aino Ojala, Elisa Defossez, Francesco Furlan, Jarno Kettunen, Laura Rusanen, Leevi Ikäheimo, Leonardo Hidalgo Uribe, Mithila Mohan, Nora Bremer, Praejeen Kunawong, Sofía Guridi, Ulla Vahteri, Yoonsik Kim, You-Chia Chen

See more:

NY Textile Month – DIALOGUES

Aalto Textiles Instagram

DIALOGUES Press Release

Interwoven – Exploring Materials and Structures is a joyous exploration into woven textile design. It dissects woven structures along with the fibres and yarns used to make them, giving exceptional insight into the world of fabrics.

Interwoven outlines how the manifold history of textiles has been intertwined with human innovation from prehistoric twining to the invention of the binary code, through to today’s new material discoveries and urgent quest for sustainability. By investigating the past and present of textiles, and narrating their cross-cultural roles, meanings and influences, Interwoven illustrates how textiles have been used to tell human stories throughout the ages.

The book introduces a new pedagogical method for woven textile design studies, inviting the reader to take a seat at the looms to weave their own stories. Detailed instructions for creating textiles, ranging from fibres and yarns to basic weaves, multi-layered constructions and digital jacquard design, are interspersed by emotionally rich, tactile textile stories by Aalto ARTS design students. The way this book interweaves technical knowledge, artistic expression and storytelling makes it a unique guide on the path to mastering textile design.

This book weaves the warp of wisdom and the weft of wonder into a fabric of fascinating complexity. Displaying a burst of creativity coupled with a sense of functionality it shows a deep respect for our pummeled planet.

From pre-historic constructions to futuristic applications, this book demonstrates the intelligence of weaving.

Lidewij Edelkoort

Aalto University introduces “textile thinking” pedagogy. Professor Maarit Salolainen explains how textile knowledge is needed in many different fields.

Buy the book

Buy the book from Aalto Shop

The annual awards were granted to the graduates. Find all the awards and the winners below:

Näytös 22 Award: Hanna-Lotta Hanhela

Jury:

Siru Juntunen Menswear Designer at GIVENCHY
Caroline Pretterebner Senior Designer at RAF SIMONS
Siiri Raasakka, Senior Knitwear Designer at Burberry

Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti award: Hanna-Lotta Hanhela

Jury:
José Teunissen, Dean, School of Design and Technology, London School of Fashion (chair of the jury)
Anne-Mari Pahkala, Head of Design, Samuji
Katariina Lamberg, Creative Director, Ahonen & Lamberg
Katriina Virtanen, CEO, Voglia
Marja-Liisa Niinikoski, Managing Director, Finnish Textile & Fashion

Marimekko Award: (shared) Hanna-Lotta Hanhela, Pyry Komsi

Jury:

Satu Maaranen, Marimekko

Fiskars Award: Pyry Rämö

Jury:
Vesa Kemppainen
Mari Rouvi
Petra Vallila

A look from Hanna-Lotta Hanhela’s MA-collection,
photo: Sofia Okkonen

Pyry Komsi’s BA-collection look,
photo: Sofia Okkonen

Pyry Rämö’s BA-collection look,
photo: Sofia Okkonen

Congratulations to all winners and all the graduates!

See more

Aalto Fashion Website – Collection photos and Näytös video 

Aalto Fashion Instagram

More about Aalto University’s Fashion education on Aalto ARTS website – Limitless, inexhaustible article by Sini Koskimies

PatternLab 22 group is a multidisciplinary group with 10 designers:

Master’s Programme in Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design: Ione Rawlins, Sanna Ahonen, Edith Kankkunen, Anna Poikonen, Tuulikki Peltonen, Aida Matuseviciute, Praejeen Kunawong

Master’s Programme in Visual Communication Design: Sabina Friman, Aino Salonen, Saara Obele

Print by Aida Matuseviciute/PatternLab

The new record came as a surprise to Maarit Salolainen, professor of textile design and director of the FaCT Master’s programme, who runs the annual pattern design course and describes the current group as “absolutely exceptional”.

In previous years, PatternLab has participated in sales events abroad. This time, travel was hampered by restrictions: for example, Europe’s biggest textile fair Heimtextil was not held this time.

Students have been looking for new, creative ways to organise events and approach customers. Remote access made it possible to meet regardless of the covid situation.

“Maybe the pandemic encouraged the students even more, and made them sell a lot outside the fair”, says the Salolainen.

One key factor, however, behind the success, was the team’s genuinely active, enthusiastic and diligent sales work.

The students are a multidisciplinary group, each bringing their own expertise to the table. This has also been reflected in the marketing and the way companies have been approached.

“There have been some outright sales gurus in our group. This has certainly contributed to the fact that the sales work has been done in a smooth manner and companies have been actively contacted”, says course student Edith Kankkunen.

“And with courage!”, adds her fellow student Anna Poikonen.

Print by Ione Rawlins/PatternLab

Read more:

Aalto University News – The original article 9.5.2022

PatternLab’s Website

Designers’ Nest Finalists:

Boram Yoo – FaCT graduate, The Designers’ Nest Award Winner

Joona Rautiainen  – FaCT

Leevi Ikäheimo – Fashion BA, The Exhibition Prize Winner

Elina Heilanen – Fashion BA

Designers’ Nest 2022 

Designers’ Nest is a non-profit initiative that supports fashion talents from the Nordics in their early stages after graduation. It features graduate designers who show high levels of originality, creativity, craftsmanship and responsible design.

The winner of the Designers’ Nest Award in 2022 is FaCT graduate Boram Yoo.

Boram Yoo wins 50.000 DKK (approximately 6.700 euros) as early support of her work, receives a study trip to UEDA College of Fashion in Osaka, Japan, and is awarded a ceramic artwork created by Danish artist Karl Monies.

Description of Boram Yoo’s collection:

MA-graduate of Aalto University, Boram Yoo has explored the history of the forced labour uniform in Korea. One of the staple garments worn by Korean elderly women are trousers with eccentric floral prints, which were originally black attire used in forced labour in the colonial era. The cheerful floral prints were applied after the war to overcome the horrible past as hyper-eccentric design of an imagined positive future. With floral prints overlaid on the military garment from the Korean War, Boram juxtaposes the stories of war and the optimistic re-appropriation of garments. The collection captures the sublimation of hardship into eternal value and beauty through hopeful imagination. As her main technique, Boram has “painted” with fabrics by merging fabrics with contrasting characteristics and prints together 3-dimensionally as a de-contextualisation of both the military elements and floral prints.

Collection by Boram Yoo, Photos: Designers’ Nest

The Jury statement:

“Boram Yoo is a designer whose work exhibits exceptional attention-to-detail, a keen sense of historical investigation, and emotional depth. Her designs speak to fashion’s power as a tool for self-reclamation, and communicate a spirit of eccentricity and optimism – of hope in the face of hardship. Bringing together opposing aesthetic tones and textures – the hard functionality of Korean military garments with plush velvets, or painterly florals with blurred digital prints – Boram’s vision is rigorous, vibrant and undeniably contemporary, making her a truly deserving recipient of this prize.”

The members of the jury: 

Mahoro Seward, Fashion Features Editor at i-D
Mariasole Pastori, Executive Director at Diorama and
Talent Acquisition Consultant
Ida Petersson, Buying Director at Browns Fashion
Anders Sølvsten Thomsen, Stylist and Creative Consultant
Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Director at Designer’s Nest

Aalto fashion students in finals of the 37th Hyères Fashion Competition in 2022

The 37th Hyères International Festival of Fashion Competition finalists have been announced, and Aalto FaCT students are once again selected in the finals.

Finalists are:

Juha Vehmaanperä – FaCT

Sini Saavala – FaCT

Jenny Hytönen – Fashion BA

Sini Saavala’s look for Hyères, Photo: Villa Noailles

Juha Vehmaanperä’s look for Hyères, Photo: Villa Noailles

Read more:

The Finalists of the Designers’ Nest Award

The Finalists of the 37th Hyères International Festival of Fashion