I saw this excellent exhibition in Helsinki the other week. It was just pure luck, that this one was still on, and it was excellent! It looks at different aspects of Finnish fashion from 1950 until today, which of course includes the founding of Marimekko, the boom years of the Finnish textile industry from the 60s to the 80s, as well as it's decline, and new, young labels and designers.
Here's the museum's website about it: http://www.designmuseum.fi/en/exhibitions/finnish-fashions-an-anthology/
The outfit shown here is the first one that you see in the exhibition, and it is mind-blowing. There are so many different materials in it! The collar and cuffs of the coat are all diferently-dyed strips of fur.
In this article, you can see a lot more photos and it talks more about the themes, and the Finnish textile industry in general: http://www.arterritory.com/en/news/4841-anthology_of_finnish_fashion
More here: http://blog.visithelsinki.fi/en/anthology-of-finnish-fashion-at-design-museum/
The colorfully striped dress in the last photo is by Kaisu Heikkilä, a label that it seems exported a lot to other european countries and they can be found here and there in thrift shops. I have a 70s dress by them - wholly different in style, but I love it a lot! Certainly another great, though little-known, Finnish brand.
What you sadly can't see in any of the photos, though there are some Marimekko items in them, are two early 1950s skirts from their very beginning. They were ever so cool, and very colorful - true to their idea to bring color into the drabness of every day clothing at the time.
Here's the museum's website about it: http://www.designmuseum.fi/en/exhibitions/finnish-fashions-an-anthology/
The outfit shown here is the first one that you see in the exhibition, and it is mind-blowing. There are so many different materials in it! The collar and cuffs of the coat are all diferently-dyed strips of fur.
In this article, you can see a lot more photos and it talks more about the themes, and the Finnish textile industry in general: http://www.arterritory.com/en/news/4841-anthology_of_finnish_fashion
More here: http://blog.visithelsinki.fi/en/anthology-of-finnish-fashion-at-design-museum/
The colorfully striped dress in the last photo is by Kaisu Heikkilä, a label that it seems exported a lot to other european countries and they can be found here and there in thrift shops. I have a 70s dress by them - wholly different in style, but I love it a lot! Certainly another great, though little-known, Finnish brand.
What you sadly can't see in any of the photos, though there are some Marimekko items in them, are two early 1950s skirts from their very beginning. They were ever so cool, and very colorful - true to their idea to bring color into the drabness of every day clothing at the time.
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