Fashion Fair in Helsinki 15.-17.10.10

This weekend there was a Fashion Fair (http://web.finnexpo.fi/Sites1/Muoti/Sivut/default.aspx) for consumers held in Helsinki. Antother fashion fair in Helsinki, Finnish Catwalk, is for professionals and it's been held in August. I must say I had a bit too high expectations on this consumer fair. When I think that I go to a fashion fair, I expect to find fashion and new experiences there. Athough there were also great companies with very fashionable products and good design, most of the exhibitors' products were far away from fashion. The overall look was messy and unorganized, even.

The Blogger's Favourites:

Ecology was one big theme that can be found in the Finnish fashion world today. And it could be found in this Fashion Fair, too.

SavetheC

House of Eco had their own stand in the exhibition. One new brand I discovered was SavetheC (http://www.savethec.com/en/). They sell bags that are made of recycled boat sails! The company has established a sail recycling system that is first in Finland. The sails are made of polyester, so as waste they cannot be decomposed. When sails cannot be used anymore, it's wonderful that they no longer end up in dump. They can be re-used as bags!

The bags are designed by famous Finnish designers, Harri Koskinen and Paola Suhonen. Harri Koskinen designs more masculine bags as Paola Suhonen brings her feminine touch to the products. Here are some examples of Harri Koskinen's designs:

And here are some of Paola Suhonen's designs:

The lining fabric in this laptop bag is the same that has been seen in IVANAhelsinki's "Where the Fuck Is My Sailor" -collection by Paola Suhonen seen in New York fashion week

The details in all of these bags are authentic from the sailing world. The clips and fasteners are the same that are used in sails in real life. And all the leather parts are made of moose's skin, the same material that is been used in steering wheels of boats, as it is the only leather material besides deer that does not shrink as it gets wet. The feel of the leather is very soft and nice.

The company also donates part of it's revenue for a good cause: protecting the environment of Baltic Sea. A very good cause as Baltic Sea is the most polluted sea in the world. What a great product concept!

Globe Hope

Globe Hope is a Finnish ecological design brand that makes design products from recycled materials.  They has also made a laptop bag from used sails:

We Care Icon
 
Baltic Sea benefits also from We Care Icon's products. We Care Icon is a private label beauty brand sold in Sokos department stores and Emotion beauty stores. They donate 5 cents from each sold product from their Maremaid collection for the protection of Baltic Sea. Here are some pickings from the stand:

 
The beautiful packagings are illustrated by Laura Laine. We Care Icon had also happenings at their stand: they did make-ups and decorated nails, which brought many interested people to the stand.

Punainen Norsu
 
Punainen Norsu from House of Eco's stand presented a new product: a necklace made of nuts and recycled fabric. Find out more: http://www.punainennorsu.com/.

Gtie - TO TIE FOR!

Oh I found one new favourite with the Gtie! They make the most adorable neckware one could imagine! See it for youself:

 
Find out more: http://www.gtie.fi/, http://boutique.gtie.fi/
 
Antti Asplund

What I like about Antti Asplund's designs is that they are designed with imagination, without restrictions. Thay are not traditional, thay have a strong own look. These Antti Asplund products I had not seen before:

Nanso Lempivaate

Paola Suhonen's designs could also be seen in Nanso's stand. She and Nanso have co-operated since 2002, and this fall they have brought to the  stores a collection with a Feather rain print. Feather is said to be a symbol for magic, victory and freedom.

Thoughts About the Event
 
It is my huble wish, that when a brand comes to a fair, they would also put some effort to what and how they communicate to the customers with their stand. There were very few stands that had actually seen the fair as something other than a point of purchase. In my opinion, it would be recommendable that the brands would see the fairs also as an opportunity to communicate to the customers of the brand values and design their stands accordingly. Take Design District's stand for example: The companies did have a mutual signing system, but otherwise their stand did not send a message of high design. I'm sorry to say that from some parts it was more like a flee market. And yet this was one of the best stands in the fair, since the products were all absolutely great. What I really cannot understand is that you can find stands like this in a fashion fair:

I do love lace but... come on?

 
Finland is a country of fabulous fashion designers. Why is it that we cannot get together a decent fashion fair with quality offerings to the audience? I don't wonder why some brands don't want to attend to fairs like this. This fashion fair has no credibility as a fashion event. What kind of a miracle would it take to get together the best Finnish fashion brands for a real fashion fair with actual style and glamour?

House of Eco's Autumn Event in Cable Factory

House of Eco is a joint venture of Finnish companies that sell ecological products via internet. The mission of House of Eco is to make it easier for us customers to make ecological choises. House of Eco operates mainly in the internet (http://www.houseofeco.fi/), but it also arranges events occasionally. Tonight (Sept 15) they arranged an autumn event in the Cable Factory in Helsinki. The event was about giving the customers a chance to get to know the products and meet the designers as well as to buy the products. 5 % of the sales made during the evening were donated for charity. Here are my pickings from the event.

Sanna Rinne

Sanna Rinne was a special quest in the event, presenting her fashion designs mostly made of cutting waste materials. All of the products are made of strips of fabric sewn together as a garment. Sanna told me that she sews all the products by herself! She has an education for textile design as well as fashion design, which makes the materials specially important to her. I personally found the products very impressive.Take a look at the shirt Sanna is wearing in the image below, isn't it gourgeous! You can find out more about Sanna's designs in address http://www.sannarinne.com/.

Beibamboo

Another guest in the event was Beibamboo, a company that has brought a whole new children's wear concept to the Finnish fashion market. Beibamboo does not only sell, but it also rents baby clothing for ecologically councious parents! The idea is to recycle clothing, instead of buying a product you can rent it and return it after the use. I can imagine it's a great consept for families with children as they don't have to worry about re-selling the used clothing that children have grown out of. As the name implies, the products are made of bamboo, a very ecological material that is well suitable to baby wear due to it's good qualities such as softness and good washing abilities (it can be washed in 60 degrees). It's also antibacterical and transfers moisture from the skin. The products are designed to be comfortable to wear and easy to put on a baby. All the rented products are washed in a professional cleaner and all the stains are removed before delivery. Nina Ignatius, the founder of the concept (see picture below), told me that all the products are designed and sewn in Finland. And the cost of renting? 1 € per one week. As the slogan of Beibamboo says: You can rent happiness...

Punainen Norsu

Another interesting ecological design brand is Punainen Norsu (http://www.punainennorsu.com/index.php), who's products has been seen on this blog before in the Turku Design Now -posting. Punainen Norsu's products are adorable retro-styled clothing mainly for chldren. Some of the products are made of genuine old retro fabrics, and they are sewn in Finland, except for the Hedgehog -series which is sewn in Estonia. Punainen Norsu is designed by Helena Opas, and she told me that as a novelty she had designed a border lining for the cartboard package of Finnish maternity aid packing, which can be used as a baby's first bed. Just take a look at these super-cute patterns:

Enne

Enne Design (http://www.enne.fi/) is also a company that designs ecological children's wear. Enne's products are made of organically grown cotton and printed and sewn in Finland. Enne Design's products look soft, sensitive and child-like.

Boutique Minne

Boutique Minne (http://www.boutiqueminne.com/) is a vintage boutique situated in Turku. They sell genuine vintage clothing, but they also sew new products and fix products to be made-to-measure. I loved the dresses and jewellery they had on display. Thake a look at the beige dress below, it had details e.g. from an old watch!

Humbugi

Humbugi has also been presented in this blog befor (see Lasipalatsi Design Markets -posting), but let's see what wonderful and new they had to offre this time:

These cute silver leather bags are made of material that has been used as an upholstery in an elevator of a hotel in Moscow!

A Speciality Product:

Ipanajamit is a children's wear boutique that sells many ecological brands on address www.ipanajamit.com. I payed attention to these colourful bags by Coll.part. I found out that they are made of recycled materials and produced according to Fair Trade's standards. The products are made of plastic bags used by fishermen all over Cambodia! The plastic bags find a new life as hats, bags, purses, baskets etc. All the products are made by Fair Trade organisations in Cambodia. The aim of the company is to support social development projects and to produce first quality products. On of the projects supports women in need of help ofering them professional education and a possibility to their children to go to school, too. The other project helps the victims of mine fields and polio patients. The artistic manager of the colourful world of Coll.part is Nina Raeber. A purhase for a good cause, I would say!

 

About the event

The event was a very warm-spirited, and I enjoyed very much learning about new ecological design brands. What I liked about the display in the event was that all the companies had equal fixtures for display. The desks were made of used cartboard boxes, and the racks were made of birch branches painted white. The ecological philosophy was present in the fixtures as well! I also liked the fact that the companies had carefully selected the products they wanted to present, and the displays were OK because they were not too full.

The event was not only about selling the products, there was also an espresso bar and photo shootings that people were able to watch in a "behind the scenes" -kind of way (see the picture above).

About the assortment of House of Eco, I payed attention that many of the companies sold products for children, but hopefully in the future there will be more ecological products for fashionable women as well. I also hope that the event was a success for the companies that attented it. I didn't see any advertisements about the event anywhere, so I do hope that the crowds foud their way to the world of ecological design products!