Knitted Graffiti Workshop in Design Museum

Yesterday I attended a knitted graffiti workshop, which was hosted by the Design Museum Helsinki and the Museum of Finnish Architecture. The worshop took place in a tent on a yard between the museums.The yarn bombing workshop was part of a collaboration called Välipala (Sandwich in English), and the tent has been put up to state that the museums need more space for their activities. The museums organize together events in the tent and bring the museum activities out to the street.

Knitted graffiti is a phenomena, which started in Texas. A shop keeper had knitted a warmer for a doorhandle. She got lots of positive feedback from it, so she started to do knitted graffiti to other subjects as well. The idea was taken with great enthusiasm and spread fast all over the world.

The idea in the knitted graffiti is to beautificate the surrounding environment with knitted or crocheted graffiti. But the phenomena can also be seen as a larger social contention. It's a way for people to express themselfs and to bring their productions to public space for everyone to enjoy. It's a way for the town inhabitants to form the town visually to the way they want it to be. To soften the cold surfaces and bring something surprising to the city view. It's about making the town more livable and cosy.

I personally also see this as one part of the crafts trend, that can be seen as a huge inspiration in fashion and design field today. The ready-to-wear clothes are made so that they look like they're been made by hand. Knitting has became a new trend hobby. It's a counter movement for the busy world. When you do crafts, you have to take time and concentrate on what you're doing and creating. It should not be rushed. And it's very rewarding to see what you've accomplished. Even to bring your accomplishment out to the public.

The concept of knitted graffiti is also close to DIY-culture. It's about doing (and designing) things by yourself, instead of paying the professionals for doing the same. Sometimes the cost may be bigger when doing things by yourself. Take fashion, for example. It might be more cheap to buy a dress from the store than to buy the fabric and other accessories, making the pattern and sewing it. But when you do it yourself, you can get exactly what you want. And again, the freedom to express yourself freely, to create your own style. A fine example of self-taught fashion can me found here: http://www.helsinkidesignweek.com/designmarket/event/7/101---diy-fashion-show. And as DIY-fashion can be done from cehap materials like recycled fabric or waste cutting pieces etc, knitted graffiti can alsobe done from left-over yarn pieces. A great way to use the yarns that were left from your knitted sweater!

Knitted graffiti making, or yarn bombing, is still a relatively small phenomena here in Helsinki. Personally I have not seen very many knitted gfaffiti, only a few. The ones I've seen have also been relatively small in size. However, lovely Helena Björk, who arranged the workshop, told me that she had done a knitted graffiti exhibition to a bus that rode between Helsinki and Espoo, as a part of her final thesis for the Aalto University School of Arts and Crafts. And abroad there are great exaples of colourful, creative knitted graffitis. Like these:

Source: http://www.abstractgraffiti.net/2009/08/yarn-bombing.html

Here are some pictures from the Yarn Bombing workshop:

The colours I chose

The final product...

You can find out more from the events held in the tent here: http://valipala.net/sv-en/. As a tip: There's a Design sale with Design District coming up next weekend!

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?