Design Finland

Finnish Fashion in Japan

The Finnish Institute in Japan will be introducing some of the top fashion names and brands in Finland. An exhibition called "Finland Collection - Fashion Design from the North"  (フィンランド新進ファッションデザイナー展) will take place in Tokyo between 13th and 19th of November at Spiral Omotesando Tokyo.

The show will feature the following Finnish fashion design brands.

IVANA Helsinki, the people behind fennofolk movement, with designer Paola Suhonen and Pirjo Suhonen

Lustwear, a two sisters' design company known for their ecological design principles.

Hanna Sarén,  a well-known artist with clothing and bags for men and women.

Naoto Niidome, a Finnish-Japanese designer introdusing his Koivikko cosmetics line, made out of Finnish birch sap.

Tiia Vanhatapio, an awarded young designer for women's and baby fashion.

St. Vacant, a shoe brand with unique sneakers and made-to-fit shoes.

Besides the exhibition, these designers have other activities. Naoto Niidome and IVANA Helsinki will have a VIP-show at the Finnish Embassy. Paola and Pirjo Suhonen will be lecturing at Bunka Fashion College and at Finland Café  2006 event.

For all those interested in Finland and Finnish design and close to Tokio - don't miss this great opportunity!

Vepsäläinen to Resell Ivana Helsinki

Vepsäläinen is the largest design furniture store chain in Finland with over 20 stores in larger cities of Finland. They carry large selection of well-known Finnish and international brands.

Ivana Helsinki, number one in fennofolk, and Vepsäläinen have agreed on reselling Ivana's home and office ranges. The selection will have bed linnen, binders, notebooks, photo albums, CD case, pen cases etc. with recognizable prints such as Tiira, HEMMA, Ponitarha (Ponygarden), Tent and Butterfly.

In the beginning, Ivana Helsinki product can be purchased from Helsinki (Ring III), Oulu, Turku, Tampe, Vaasa and Jyväskylä stores.

As a novelty, HEMMA notebook is the first product that will have Butterfly print in it. Butterfly will be seen more widely in Ivana's 2007 Dead Butterfliest collection.

Art Supermarket Pikasso

In September a very interesting and innovative project took place in Helsinki - a supermarket selling modern art.

The project called Taidesupermarket Pikasso was really a supermarket. It was set up in a former supermarket with the original shelves and counters, shopping baskets and trolleys - they even had sale during the last days!

Pikasso started with a huge media campaign. They promised to give out 100 pieces of art to first visitors. And they were surprised - a line of over 100 meters for the opening day! There were not enough for all who came to get theirs.

Pikasso featured almost 100 different artists from Finland and abroad. The most expensive work was Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup graphic for 35,000€ whereas the cheapest items for sale was just couple of euros.  The number of visitors is said to have almost reached those of Kiasma, Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art. As for sales, they reached par for monthly sales of top galleries in Finland.

The tho gentlemen behind this innovation are artist Jani Leinonen and marketing executive Jukka Kurttila. Jani Leinonen is one of the hot young artists in Finland with multiple very successful projects, and Jukka Kurttila is a successful marketer from Bob Helsinki, one of the most innovative marketing agencies in Finland.

I talked with Jani Leinonen and Jukka Kurttila about the birth of the project. They said it all started from a dilemma, that ordinary people feel it's very unconvenient to visit art galleries. Galleries have an image of being targeted towards the small group of art connoiseurs. Thus, the wanted to bring art closer to environment that is familiar to everyone. So they thought supermarket.

In Pikasso there were also much larger selection and variety of work available than in galleries. You needn't know whose work you want - just go browsing in and get pick the ones you like.

Pikasso premises were rented from a supermarket chain, so they still had all the furniture left. All they needed to do was to hang the art and produce some supermarket type signs.

The reactions from people have been very positive. There were more artists offering their works for sale than they could carry. The customers and the media have really loved Pikasso.

It's not yet known what will come out of Pikasso project. Will art be sold at supermarkets in the future? Is the role of art galleries going to change? Who knows.

Anyway , buying art was certainly much more accessible than before.

Kalevala Koru Goes Movies

Kalevala Koru just announced their first ever collaboration project with film industry. A limited edition pendant "Jadesoturi" l inks to the story of a new Finnish movie called Jade Warrior.

Jade Warrior's story links the Finnish epic story Kalevala with Chinese mythologies, creating a love story with combination of Kung Fu and fantasy.

Jadesoturi bronze pendant consists of flames from Kalevala in a shape of a wheel, a Chinese symbol of eternity. The text "Jadesoture (Jade warrior)" is included in Mandarin (Chinese) writing.

Jadesoture pendant is designed by Mari Saari, and will be available only for a limited period of time.

I personally believe this will be a collector's item, since the movie has been sold for commercial distribution in over 30 countries so far.

The Last Knit - a New Way to See Modern Finnish Design

In my view, design can be seen very widely. That's why I decided to include a great piece of modern design from Finland - 3D animation.

The Last Knit is one of the most viewed submissions in YouTube.com. Laura Neuvonen is behind this great 6:45 long animation, which has been shortlisted for Cartoon D'Or award, ie. the best animation in Europe.

The film is produced by Anima Vitae, which is known for it's great animation productions for TV and commercials. Their works are actually very well known in Finland.

I believe Anima Vitae and Laura Neuvonen will be the next 3D animation superstars. Just watch and see...

Since Typepad is not allowing me to embed YouTube content, here's the link to The Last Knit