Fashion in Helsinki presented emerging Finnish fashion brands to international acclaim, with a runway show at the 200-year-old-shipyard and Finnish Fashion Awards were the highlights of the week.
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
The Fashion in Helsinki event took over the Finnish capital for May 29-31 to celebrate fashion and creativity. The events included a runway show in a 200-year-old shipyard and the first ever Finnish Fashion Awards that highlighted the unique creative talents of one of the most exciting fashion communities in Europe.
The last week of May belonged to Fashion in Helsinki, an event dedicated to craftsmanship, creativity and emerging talents of Finnish fashion.
The highlight of the week was a runway show that presented a curated edition of the best Finnish brands including Hedvig, Jenny Hytönen, Rolf Ekroth, Sofia Ilmonen and VAIN. The runway show venue, Helsinki Shipyard a huge dry dock built in 1865 is usually filled with ice breakers and cruise vessels soon to ply international waters. Now the huge pool was empty for Finnish fashion to take over.
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
“The focus [of Fashion in Helsinki] is on highlighting creativity and the processes behind the designers’ creations, while having fun doing it,” wrote Emily Chan, the Senior Sustainability & Features Editor in her report for British Vogue. “It’s clear that the future is bright for Finnish fashion brands.”
Hedvig – @hedvigcollection
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
Jenny Hytönen – @jenny_hytonen
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
Rolf Ekroth – @rolf_ekroth
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
Sofia Ilmonen – @sofiailmonen
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
VAIN – @vain_official
Photography by Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
Finnish Fashion Awards: An Evening for the Community
The first ever Finnish Fashion Awards were held on May 31st.
“This was an evening for the fashion community. We wanted to start a new tradition of acknowledging success, validating creativity and giving recognition. The event found its purpose, and it is here to stay”, said Jani Niipola, Editor-in-Chief of Fashion Finland, one of the organizers.
According to the international jury the list of winners spoke volumes about creativity and quality of the Finnish fashion scene.
“The list of winners emphasizes the versatility, innovation and diversity of the Finnish fashion industry. That is something we can be very proud of”, said Miia Koski, CEO of Juni Communication, an agency that organizes both Fashion in Helsinki and Finnish Fashion Awards.
Awards were given in 9 categories: New Talent, Branding, Scaling, Retail, E-Commerce, Sustainability, Innovation x Collaboration, Beauty and Most Engaging Social Media.
New Talent: Designer Ildar Wafin. Wafin’s jewellery exhibits exceptional talent and craftsmanship. He is a storyteller who combines beautiful design with his Tatar heritage. Wafin also launched collection for Finnish heritage brand Kalevala.
Branding: Designer Samu-Jussi Koski for Borse e Cose and Jeans & Towels. Considered one Finland’s leading designer names, Koski had success with his previous company, Samuji, and has now launched not one but two new brands that both have international potential.
Scaling: VIBAe Shoes. VIBAe is a shoe manufacturing company that has enjoyed remarkable growth in the last year. With collaborations with brands like Comme des Garçons under their belt, 95 percent of VIBAe’s sales are global.
Beauty: Make-up artist Jenny Jansson. Jansson is known for her brilliant work both in fashion shows and editorials in Finland and abroad.
Retail: Beamhill. With its three stores Beamhill has sold high fashion in Finland but also supported the young, emerging Finnish designers for three decades.
E-Commerce: Ninyes. The startup focuses on designing and creating secondhand online stores for brands. During the last year they have worked with Finnish brands such as Halti and Joutsen.
Innovation x Collaboration: Waste management company Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto. LSJH has collaborated on upcycled collections with both Latimmier and VAIN, presented at Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Sustainability: Latimmier. Led by Creative Director Ervin Latimer, the brand has been active in inclusion, social sustainability in addition to the circular economy.
Most Engaging Social Media: Vitun Leija. The young brand has truly mastered the digital space in creating hype, audience and brand.
The Finnish Fashion Awards jury included Jani Niipola (Editor-in-Chief, Fashion Finland), Miia Koski (CEO, Juni Communication), Fabio Baum (General Manager, Nordic & Benelux, Zalando) Linda Turunen (Aalto University), Henri Kulvik (Investor, Sifter Capital), Claudia Cifu (Stylist), Maiju Niskanen (Category Director, Women’s Fashion, Stockmann), Laura Laakso (Country Manager, Tise Finland), Allyson Shiffman (Journalist, Vogue Scandinavia), Linda Permanto (Marketing and Brand Director, Novita), Kirsi Juva (Executive Director, Finnish Design Info), Katarina Siltavuori (Executive Director, Archinfo), Stephan Rabimov (Journalist, Forbes.com) and Jenny Hyvärinen (Communications Manager, L’Oréal).
Finnish Fashion Awards was organized by Juni Communication & Fashion Finland in collaboration with NH Collection Helsinki Grand Hansa 1664 Blanc / Sinebrychoff.
Fashion in Helsinki runway show were organized by Juni Communication & Minttu Vesala, the partners were Helsinki Shipyard, Redken and Lancôme.
Event producer Miia Koski @miiakoski, Juni Communication @juni_communication
Pr & Communication Martta Louekari @marttal, Juni Communication @juni_communication
Art director & producer Minttu Vesala @superminttu
Show director Jim Bergström @jimbergstroem
Casting Minttu Vesala @superminttu & Jim Bergström @jimbergstroem
Stylist Minttu Vesala @superminttu
Hair Miika Kemppainen @miikakemppainen & team in partnership with Redken @redken
Make-up Jenny Jansson @jennyjanssonmakeup & team in partnership with Lancôme @lancomeofficial
Show in partnership with City of Helsinki @helsinki @helsinkipartners, Helsinki Shipyard @helsinkishipyard, Juni Communication @juni_communication, Lancôme @lancomeofficial, Redken @redken & Blanc @1664blancfi
Sound design Jonas W. Karlsson @jonaswkarlsson & Minttu Vesala @superminttu
Sound producer Jonas W. Karlsson @jonaswkarlsson
DJ & sound Anna Cadia @___cadia
Back stage manager Justus Kantakoski @justuskantakoski
Show coordinators Peter Pohjola @peterpohjola & Junior Michael Ventura @juniormichaellv
Model coordinators Dina Simonen dinasimonen & Katariina Haakila @katariinangelika
Show assistants Elina Heilanen @elinaheilanen & Konsta Eskola @konstaeskola
Show production assistant Andre Pozusis @andrepozusis
Sound Technique Kimmo Räsänen @kimmorasanen, Capital AV @capital.av
Helsinki Shipyard producer Eija Oraviita-Kaiku @oraviitakaiku
Photography Guillaume Roujas @guillaumeroujas & Sebastian Johansson @_sebastianjohansson
Video Rasmus Purola @rasmuspurola
Models
The Sisterhood @thesisterhood_mgmt, agent Jasmin Islamovic @islamovic_jasmin and Dina Simonen dinasimonen
Paparazzi @paparazzimodelmanagement, agent Huuko Koski @huukokoski
Nisch Management @nischmanagement Mathias Fältmarsch @mathiasfaltmarsch
Brand Model Management @brandmgmt @brandnewface, agent Emma Tähkäpää @emmatahkapaa
As You Are Agency @asyouareagency, agent Jasmin Mishima @jazminimani
MIKAs @mikasstockholm, agent Bojan Radevic @bojanradevic
Onni Agency @onniagency, agent Markus Holopainen
Fashion in Helsinki
www.fashioninhelsinki.com | @fashioninhelsinki
Fashion in Helsinki is a platform for the emerging talents in Finnish fashion. Fashion in Helsinki showcases Finnish creativity, artistic practice and unique craftsmanship trough fashion shows, presentations, exhibitions and talks to the consumers, global and local media and retailers.
Fashion in Helsinki is organised by Juni Communication in collaboration with Aalto University. The event is supported by the Helsinki Partners, Ministry of Education and Culture Finland and Ministry for Foreign Affairs Finland.
All images courtesy of Fashion in Helsinki.
Tags: Awards, contemporary artist, contemporary design, contemporary style, designer spotlight, emerging brands, emerging designers, fashion award, fashion events, Fashion in Helsinki, fashion photography, fashion show, Finnish, Finnish Design, Finnish Fashion Awards, Hedvig, Helsinki, Jenny Hytönen, Matti Keski-Kohtamäki, photography, Rolf Ekroth, runway, runway shows, Scandinavian, Scandinavian style, Sofia Ilmonen, Top, VAIN
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