Month: June 2025

Blatant/Covert

Blatant/Covert is a collection which discusses – and is influenced by – the concept of supermodernism. The acceleration of events and history, the foreshortening of space and the excess of information and surveillance all play an active role in the thought process of creating each garment.

Axel Pasanen aims to accelerate past what is contemporary, culminating in a post-contemporary vision of the world. Pasanen draws inspiration from his surroundings, non-places, and spaces which one must travel through in the contemporary urban metropolis. Garments are designed to simultaneously protect,  store, conceal, be covert, be anonymous and be incognito, yet stand out.

• Stealth is blatant. Anonymity is in focus. Incognito in plain sight, I wanted to bring the concept of the covert to the forefront.

Pasanen obsessively and meticulously crafts digital simulacra of each item, brought into reality through means of unconventional garment-making.  Each garment and accessory exists initially as a digital representation, from which the physical copy is later brought to life. 3D pattern drafting, CAD, and sculpting software form the basis of the designer’s method. The items are brought out of the digital into the physical by utilising a CNC fabric cutter, 3D printing, and traditional sewing techniques.

Through virtual pattern drafting and design, new forms emerge from the acts of experimentation as well as trial and error. Working within the confines of the digital and learning to interpret how simulated garments eventually act in the physical world leaves room for the unexpected.

• Working from a digital-first perspective has allowed me to think about more than just the garment itself and visualise a complete whole before it is ever realised in physical form. Simulating virtual garments with a digital version of the accessories they will eventually be paired with allows them to interact in their simulated non-physical forms, influencing the design direction of both..

Axel August Zakarias Pasanen

axel.pasanen@aalto.fi

+358451234003

@axelzakarias

I Want My Body

In her BA thesis collection, I Want My Body, Annukka Havukumpu explores the complexities of girlhood and the transitional phase of coming-of-age. Her work focuses on that in-between moment when a girl’s body begins to shift into womanhood, while she still inhabits the world as a child. Through fashion, Havukumpu captures the awkwardness, clumsiness, and the characteristic “more is more” aesthetic of this formative time. She delves into the contradictions of this stage—the tension between innocence and emerging agency—using shape, silhouette, and material development to reflect the growing power of self-expression.

–For me, it feels natural to explore gender and girlhood through fashion,” says Havukumpu. “Clothing is deeply intertwined with these themes—cultural meanings tied to sexuality or innocence are often projected onto the female body through dress. The bodily experience of girlhood is intense, and personal control over one’s body is often in flux. In my collection, I ask how we might navigate the eroticization of youth while reclaiming bodily autonomy under the male gaze.

Material exploration has been central to Havukumpu’s process. She has created her own fabrics through knitting and weaving, and developed unique prints using a range of techniques, including laser cutting and textile printing.

– I’m interested in exploring industrial working methods and finishes, but also in combining them with more ‘craft-like’ approaches. The tradition of craft culture is strongly connected to women and has not been considered particularly valuable from an artistic perspective.

Her approach is highly process-oriented: the collection evolved through multiple iterations before reaching its final form. A sense of abundance runs through her work, reflecting her tendency to explore widely and embrace new techniques with curiosity and enthusiasm.

Annukka Havukumpu
annukka.havukumpu@aalto.fi
+358405805035
@havukumpuannukka

Through my fingers

Eemeli Niemi’s BA thesis is about collecting and personal relationships with clothes. Most of the fabrics in the collection have been sought out with collecting in mind. The design work was informed by the material itself and wardrobe study on Niemi’s own clothes, which offered details to the designs.

From an early age, Niemi has been interested in collecting different things, such as toys, clothes or cassettes, always fascinated by the search for and the thrill of finding the right thing. The act of collecting takes the designer to environments and places never visited before, adding to the work.

– I like to give materials space in my work, and I find that even very simple things like fabrics create layers or surfaces to grab onto when you look at them up close or from a distance. I like looking at things up close, touching and feeling them.

Throughout the thesis, the idea of a “normal” garment or a garment that is important to the owner has guided the design of silhouettes. In the collection, Niemi highlights the importance of details in clothes, such as zippers, collars or the colour of a sewing thread by giving them particular attention.

– I’ve been thinking about what connects or ties things together in a collection, and I think it’s the way things pass through my hands, as if I’ve given my consent to certain fabrics and clothes.

Contact information:

Eemeli Niemi

Eemeli.niemi@aalto.fi

 +358407765465

@Eemelieevert 

Finders Keepers

“This is not about nostalgia—it’s about what stays with us after we’ve been left behind.”
In their BA graduate collection, Tilda Wallius explores themes of abandonment, value,
and transformation through intuitive, materially driven processes. The collection draws
inspiration from the act of dumpster diving—reclaiming what others have
discarded—and expresses this through sculptural garments that are layered, wrapped,
or encased in new form.

Using a method Wallius describes as “coating,” each piece conceals or preserves a
former structure beneath the surface. A trash bag becomes a dress lined with gold silk
and reinforced with a hidden corset. A top is constructed from hundreds of pistachio
shells, hand-attached to create organic armour. A graffiti-coated denim skirt floats away
from the body with tension in the knees Every garment employs its own system of
tension, support, or collapse, echoing the emotional labour of carrying memory, class,
and survival in the body.

“I work intuitively—shapes and meanings often emerge from the act of making, not from
planning.”

Wallius works almost entirely by hand, favouring slowness, emotional precision, and
material presence over industrial finish. Garments often begin as found or discarded
objects—transformed through sculptural intuition rather than conventional
patternmaking. This approach avoids literal interpretations of upcycling, instead offering
garments that hold poetic weight, tension, and quiet resistance.

“Beauty is present, but cracked. Structures sag, hold, or hover.”

The visual language of the collection references class differences through intentional
contrasts in shape and material. Some garments mimic bourgeois codes—structured
silhouettes, pearl embellishments, velvet, and organza—while others deliberately evoke
trash bags, insulation wrap, and makeshift solutions. These contrasts embody the
tension between aspiration and abandonment, questioning what is considered tasteful,
elegant, or worthy. In this world, bougie meets trashy—creating a hybrid space where
new values emerge.

Finders Keepers asks: what is left behind—and what is still worth carrying?

Tilda Wallius
tilda.wallius@aalto.fi

+358 503750908
@tildawallius

Teitä Ikävöiden / Missing You

In their BA graduate collection, Ilari Kokkola studies innocence and  identity, and the relation between  childhood and adulthood, in queer context.

My gayness as a child was once  

again interpreted through the lens  of the adult world.  

My queerness was evaluated  

according to adult norms and  

the imagery through which adults  perceive homosexuality and queer  culture. I felt how I was compared  to grown-ups and forced to face  

the discriminatory and damaging  

perceptions of their world, though  I was just a child. 

Ilari studied how being a gay child  in a heteronormative environment altered  their self-image and forced them to shield  themselves from the surrounding world.  In the collection Ilari has focused on  interpreting this imaginary shield of  identity to the context of fashion.  The concept of shielding and protection  is studied through tens of thousands of  handmade and/or applied metal rings,  feathers and pearls.

The designer wanted the materials  to represent the feel that bearing this  shield felt as a child. The materials are  heavy, hard, sharp or uncomfortable, but  there is still fragility and grace in each  one of them.

Merely every material in  the collection is hand-crafted. Creating materials on my own gave me more connection to the already very personal subject. Spending hundreds of hours with each material forced me to create a bond with my work. It wasn’t pleasure I felt, more of a trans-like state of frustration and anger.

In ‘Teitä ikävöiden’, fashion is seen as a form of play. In this never ending game of clothes, each garment has its own role in creating a new world or reality. In this game the norms of our reality are not only observed but turned into garments of mockery and overemphasis.

Contact:

ilari.kokkola@gmail.com

+358456327270

@ilarikokkola

Embodying objects

Selma Mataich’s BA thesis Embodying Objects explores fashion as a tool for artistic work, studying
how garments are defined, and where the limits of that definition lie, approaching dressing as a
performative act. What kind of things do we wear consciously, and what unconsciously? This
dichotomy is carried through the research to the collection, where it manifests itself as the core
theme, touch. The ensemble consists of wearable sculptures that combine working methods related
to fashion and visual art. All five pieces are worn only through touch, meaning that they stay on the
body through the active presence of the wearer with their hands. This theme continues in the
materials, which are a product of intuitive handwork.

“How does the attitude towards a garment change when it requires complete presence to be worn, for

the wearer and the viewer?”

The collection is approached as a process-based exploration of research through materials and
shapes. It is constantly evolving and alive.
“I am constantly surprised by the outcomes, which is what keeps me interested to delve deeper. Every
piece is its own material exploration, that gave me the opportunity to try out different techniques like
Multiweave, a new weaving technique, and how glass could be combined with soft materials. I speak
through my body and my hands turn the formless meanings in my mind into physical, concrete,
tangible objects.”

Contact information:
Selma Mataich
Selma.mataich@gmail.com
+358 443444401
@selmataich

TIDES OF HERITAGE: A Contemporary Love Letter to the Finnish Archipelago

Inspired by people who live their labor—fishermen, lighthouse keepers, sailors—the
collection embodies resilience, repair, and deeply worn beauty. Rooted in the rugged
beauty of the Finnish archipelago, Peik Westerlund’s BA thesis collection explores
the intertwined lives, culture, and history of coastal communities in Finland. Drawing
inspiration from archival research into historical workwear, navy uniforms, and
traditional sails, this collection fuses the raw essence of the sea with a distinctly
modern edge.

“The sea has its own rhythm. A certain calmness mixed with the unavoidable feeling
of smallness. I wanted this collection to feel like stepping into that slow, salty world.”

The collection features both menswear and womenswear, all handmade with a
strong emphasis on materials and craft. Natural fibers such as wool, linen, and
cotton form the foundation, complemented by leather, upcycled fur and technical
fabrics. With references to maritime uniforms and gear, the work explores how
garments function in tough environments, and how they evolve through wear, repair,
and time.
Sustainability plays a key role—through material reuse, digital patternmaking with
CLO-3D, and minimizing waste in the prototyping phase. The creative process has
been intuitive and hands-on, guided by the designer’s own memories and
experiences sailing the Finnish archipelago.

“Using digital design tools such as CLO-3D helped me cut down on waste and time
used in the prototyping phase, but it also made me rethink how I approach form—
freed from all physical restrictions, I was able to focus on my key design elements
and on bringing them to life.”

New textile manipulations emerged through experimentation, including felting wool
into sculptural forms and developing a sail-inspired textile from organza, glass-fiber
net, and liquid latex. Technical nylon ripstop fabric has been heat-formed into
wrinkled shapes through Shibori manipulation. Leather and wool pieces are
accented with heavy duty metal hardware.

“There’s beauty in repair, in patina, in how clothing adapts to life. That’s what I tried
to express through texture and form.”

Peik Westerlund
peik.westerlund@aalto.fi
+358 400 997669
@peik.westerlund

Sophia Linden X Elina Brotherus
EXPOSED
(MA)

Sophia Linden’s graduation work EXPOSED is a multidisciplinary artistic collaboration with lens-
based contemporary artist Elina Brotherus. Guided by dialogue and shared artistic curiosity, the
work explores the fusion of fashion, textile and photography.
The self-portraits that Brotherus took for the collaboration serve as a primary inspiration, guiding
the creation of the fashion collection and textile art that transforms images into tactile and
wearable form.

– I approach fashion and textiles as an artistic practice, and I’m interested in merging
them with visual arts to explore new forms of expression.

For this project, Linden and Brotherus were also invited by the city of Espoo to work site-
specifically in the Venturo House, designed by architect Matti Suuronen in 1971. Venturo’s
minimalist architecture, materiality and postmodern aesthetic, along with references to pop art,
shaped the collection’s visual language.

Linden’s work is centred around an experimental practice-led approach; through artistic textile
processes, she translated Brotherus’s photographs into woven, knitted and printed form, turning
the images into different structures, materials and colours. In the collection, the garments'
minimal silhouettes allow the textiles and images to take centre stage. Most of the materials
used in the collection are stock leftovers or upcycled yarns, fabrics, and vintage accessories
that are given a new life.

– I wanted to explore what meaning is created, lost, or transformed when different art
forms, such as textiles and photography, are fused together.

Contact information:
sophia.linden@aalto.fi
+358 400700010
@sophialinden

MEMORY WEARS

Paavo Hemmi’s MA thesis collection explores the intersection of sensory memory, personal
reflection and craftsmanship. Reflecting on past experiences, emotions, and material
interactions. Hemmi wants to develop everyday garments that are more meaningful, enduring
objects and where empathy is felt when worn. It is a process of listening, reflecting, and
allowing space for unexpected moments of creation. Hemmi is interested in how garments
intertwine to form one’s uniform of experience.

I’m capturing fleeting moments and feelings in the pieces like one would write a
diary. It is a meditation on observation, time, and the evolving connection between
wearer and garment.”

“Through the tactile nature of the wor,k I find a way to anchor fleeting memories and
moments, turning them into more lasting pieces of art that can be worn and
experienced again and again.”

Each look has a distinct narrative, shaped by themes like labour, resilience or transformation.
Together, they create a wardrobe of my identity and memories.

Paavo Hemmi
paavo.hemmi@aalto.fi
+358442526393
@paavohemmi

Dupes

– The garments are containers. They seek to be opened, and their contents
unveiled.

In their BA graduate collection, Otto Siponen investigates the structural and visual
elements of packaging – its closures, seals, and surfaces – and imagines it as a system
for garment construction.

Over the course of their final year Siponen focused on studying methods of enclosing
the body, borrowing from industrial manufacturing processes. Using methods such as
ultrasonic sewing – a technique used in packaging production – Siponen visualizes the
finalized garments not just as clothing, but as vessels for preservation, depicting the
body as a manufactured good.

– I’m not that interested in expressing something deep or authentic. I’m more
drawn to things that feel empty.

Siponen’s creative processes are often driven by surface-level desire and fast
pleasures:

– Design is always a process in which I observe things from the outside, without a
deeper personal connection to them. There’s a distance I maintain, but within
that space, I find freedom. It allows me to construct new meanings from banal
things

OTTO SIPONEN
otto.siponen@aalto.fi
0440877774
@fagercrombieandbitch