Busy Bees

In a future where bees have vanished, the Earth faces a crisis. With ecosystems
unbalanced and agriculture collapsing, humanity must rebuild itself, mirroring bee hives,
where survival depends on collective function.

In Busy Bees, garments become tools, each piece reflecting a societal role within an
imagined post-bee city, inspired by the jobs within the beehive—guards, foragers, nurses,
cleaners, etc. Miska Kettu’s MA thesis collection explores how fashion communicates
purpose and necessity, and also reinterprets the essence of cooperation and adaptation,
emphasising the connection between humans and the essential role of every individual in
shaping the future.

– For the creative process, I imagined modern uniforms for everyday workers in
this imagined world. I wanted to create characters that we see in our everyday
life. Their garments reflect their roles and importance within the ecosystem they
live in. But what is workwear in 2025? Especially in a context where we see
technology and machines taking work and slowly replacing us. For me,
workwear can be summarised by protective and functional garments.

In the collection, classic workwear elements were combined with a twist. Fashion is about
storytelling, and this collection tells its own story.

Essential techniques for this collection are artisanal leather work and jacquard-weaving,
elevating workwear and challenging the traditional hierarchies of material use. Instead of
treating workwear as disposable, the collection sculpts it with intention, embedding labour
with beauty and strength.

– Working with this collection has been a long road, a lot of mistakes and
errors, but now it sees the daylight. The most rewarding thing has been the
leather work. It is an unforgivable material to work with, where you truly must
take time & precision: glue, topstitch, glue, topstitch, glue, topstitch. But as they
say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Contact information:
Miska Kettu
miska.kettu@aalto.fi
+358458782265
@miskakettu