75,000 stitches, 50,000 beads and 30,000 knots later

75,000 stitches, 50,000 beads and 30,000 knots later, a small collection of four meticulously handcrafted garments has formed. Hundreds of hours of focused labour, storytelling through materials, and a deep commitment to the slow process is Pauliina Friberg’s way of researching her relationship to handmade clothes’ perceived value.

Friberg’s MA thesis explores the boundaries between fashion and crafts drawing inspiration from traditional Finnish rugs, tapestries and lace works both honouring, mixing, and recreating the original techniques. Using only her hand and needles to create the clothes, she invites the viewer to reflect on time, presence, and care. Her practice emphasises material intimacy—needles, threads and beads becoming vehicles of meaning and memory.

–The clothes serve as a tribute to the women before me who have developed the craft culture that I can now utilise and reinterpret.

The collection is not only a testament to patience and technical skill, but it challenges the viewer to reconsider the value of garments, not as disposable objects, but as repositories of time, labour, and intention. Each garment holds an invisible weight: the hands that made it, the hours it took, and the stories it carries. With every knot tied and every bead sewn by hand, the garments become quiet protests against speed, convenience, and invisibility in making. They are not only to be worn, but also to be witnessed.

–My practice begs the question: what is the true cost of making something by hand? The answer, stitched into the fabric of each garment, is not simply measured in numbers, but in presence, persistence, and the beauty of things made slowly.

Contact information:

Pauliina Friberg

pauliina.friberg@aalto.fi

+358405577837

@fribergpauliina