Laitinen – The next big thing from Finland

The Finnish designer duo Laitinen have managed to keep a pretty low profile but from time to time the name pops up on fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle. For most people they are still quite unknown, even though their S/S 09 collection was presented at the Milan fashion week, and they been awarded at the Hyeres Festival in 2006. These siblings (sister and brother Anna and Tuomas Laitinen) have the kind of aestethics that appeal to my minimalist and androgyne taste: odd cuts, dark colors, timeless designs, and an unisex look – something more designers should definitely pursue towards in the future.

Whereas most young Finnish designers make quite quirky and playful clothing, Laitinen’s desings are more mature and have an international angle to them. It’s a pity they are rather anti-commercial; the brand doesn’t have an official website and the clothes are not advertised or sold anywhere online, only in a few selected boutiques. The quality of the garments should be outstanding, as the production still happens in small factories around Finland.

I can’t wait what will become of Laitinen since they have all the needed elements to make it big one day. I guess we just have to wait and see. In the meanwhile we can admire these beautiful images of their designs from the past collections.


The images, more about Laitinen and the full collections can be found from here.

Best of Paris

Spring is here but my eyes are already wandering on the wonderful fall/winter 09/10 designs of the Paris fashion week. I’ve been told I wear too much black but what’s a girl to do when her favorite designers send all black down the runway once again? Some would say open your horizons but I simply can’t stop admiring the work of these amazing designers. Who can resist Gareth Pugh’s gothic warrior, the androgyny vibes of Ann Demeulemeester’s designs, the 80’s glam aestethics of Balmain or the beautiful cuts of Margin Margiela’s collection? Rick Owens seems to be the only one stepping out the black comfort zone, perhaps frosty white is the new black of the season? I could deal with that…

Gareth Pugh

Ann Demeulemeester



Balmain



Maison Martin Margiela

Rick Owens



Images edited from Style.com

Currently my wishlist for fall has extended with a pair of platform boots, spiked and studded clothing, thick knits, a heavily shoulder padded blazer and frosty white leather. Givenchy’s collection should be up tomorrow and I’m keeping my figers crossed it’s as good and inspiring as last year’s.

Ecoluxury

Being a huge fan of Scandinavian fashion, meeting the Finnish born fashion designer Camilla Norrback while in Sweden, had a great importance to me. Her brand has been a pioneer in “ecoloxury“, a term that has been widely used but in fact, originated from her. In Camilla’s words “ecoluxury is modern luxury with an ecological point of view”; most of her clothes are produced from environmentally friendly, renewable raw materials. A good example were buttery soft leggings which I would have never guessed being made of recycled PET bottles. How can something so rough and ugly turn into something so comfortable and pretty?

Source: Camilla Norrback

While visiting her boutique, Camilla promised us a -25% discount from her collection. I obviously couldn’t leave empty handed, and this Art deco/80’s inspired dress was mine to keep. According to Camilla, her clothes make the wearer feel both beautiful and proud which with, I have to agree. I wore the dress to Saturday night’s indie club feeling both beautiful and proud; not only had I bought an amazing dress but it was also a very wise purchase.

The button of the dress is made from the finest quality leather and in a Swedish factory that also manufactures the leather straps of Louis Vuitton bags. How cool is that?

Dress: Camilla Norrback
Shoes: Urban Originals
Clutch: Bianco

Camilla at her boutique

Not so sunny Tuesday afternoon

It has been raining now for the past few days and seems like it’s not going to stop anytime soon. Due to the bad weather conditions, I have not worn anything special to be worth photographing. When I get home from work my hair is usually wet and my makeup is falling, so it’s not a very pretty sight. With this greyness all my inspiration has gone out the window and got lost in the rain…Where are you sunshine, where are you summer? Oh this depression!Due to lack of my own outfit photos, I am now introducing a new Swedish brand called Pudel. The designs are very similar to Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair with the abstract cuts and dark colors. I love how they are using black on their spring/summer collection, it’s so Scandinavian of them. It is also rather cool that the boy in the pictures happens to be my friend from Stockholm. Way to go Jocke!




You can purchase the clothes online from here.