This year there was obviously more apparel on offer and maybe it was my idea but the busiest stands were those that had offers starting from 5€ (sample t-shirts, shirts and underwear)! The fashion show (http://www.helsinkidesignweek.com/ovvn) this year was rather a modest production but a worthy one as it presented the work of a fashion design collective. The flyer said: “OVVN Fashion Boutique is a Helsinki based independent designers’ collective and shop. The collective consists of 11 young designer participants of the reformed and soon to be renewed Hundpark shop. Each designer has their own label of clothing and accessories. Most things are handmade and of unique value.”

  

  

The brands were Pisto, Sofia Järvenfelt, Miia Halmesmaa, Mary A. Javala, Anne Törnroos, Hankala, Lunch, Cherrie Charlotte, Iloa, and I Know Why No. The Finnish up and coming fashion designers demonstrated the usual soberness and affection towards the dark (winter) palette. The make-up and hair was combining well with the austerity most designers wanted to convey. Goth as an aesthetic statement is quite popular in Finland and there was plenty of it in the air. 

The few instances of playfulness was in the naturalistic prints, the interplay of embroidery and tattoo-like prints, the black and white cartoon prints, the colour patchwork prints and of course the net knits. The volumes were… body conscious and tight, loose, constructed, deconstructed, short but not too much, super long … in other words everything but… there was, I found, one common characteristic, namely softness. 

And this softness may have been due to the fact that all designers were young women. There was a sense and sensibility even when the designers were trying to be daring. On the other hand more than half of the creations on the show were in their way commercial. At quite a few instances the feeling I was getting was that of attending a good fashion school show: there was dynamism in incompleteness, but also some poor execution. 

  

As the flyer implied… most creations were hand-made (?) and unique… so what if the tailoring was a bit challenging at times! But I will tire you no more with my impressions… enjoy the photos from the Helsinki Design Week 09 modest fashion show. Mind you that the concept of design collectives increasingly resonates in our financially troubled times.