The freshest Finnish fashion brand Awe was on display at the Design Partners’ area - I simply love their beautiful handle on feminine and timeless use of materials and shape as well as the ecological thinking behind the brand.

Kierrätysistuin -competition (designing a chair out of recycled material), there were a few treats for those of us who hate to waste but love to live with style.
The winner of the competition was Rrround -chair, by two students from Lahti Institute of Design, Janne melasjoki & Arttu Kuisma, made out of discarded exhibition carpet, all rolled together into a chair, which was colourful & fun and dug into material waste that has been very near my own heart more than once when watching fairs and exhibitions being torn down and hundreds of square metres of carpet being thrown out. I’d really like to see this kind of thinking in more products today and sincerely hope this chair or it’s kind, could be seen in many public spaces in the future.
My personal favourite, as a passionate city bicyclist, was my friend Juha Perä’s Vélo -chair made out of discarded bicycle frames and in collaboration with Costo.

This year the Lahti Institute of Design (my dear old alma mater aka school) department was by far the freshest pick as an ensemble at the Habitare fair. The idea of the department was simple and stylish, done with rough wooden floor and speech bubbles the visitors could write comments on. It just worked very well with the products on display. Which by the way were also great although some in need of a little more development.
I especially loved the Wimble chair, made out of tennis balls thrown away. Apparently millions are thrown away per year even in a country as small as Finland .. I would proudly have Wimble in my home or office any day, as it is at the same time an elegant, minimalistic piece of furniture as well as telling a story of the life it’s components have already lived. I’m a sucker for stories and beautiful objects !

Last but not least probably the main favourite of the entire fair for myself - The Pally stool by the superübermultitalented Laura väinölä !!
This is a product I could see doing very well in the industrial market, with very little extra development and very soon. I really hope someone picks it up for production right now. This is exactly the kind of well thought throug, long lasting, young&new, positive Finnish consumer design this country really needs, in able to pick up the shreds of it’s much talked about golden age of design that some people still blindly idealise.
The adaptable stool is constructed of wooden sticks with different coloured ends, held in a round container with cushioning at the bottom to keep the stool adjusted to any sized bums, and so being suitable for children or childlike adults all alike. Also you can create what ever pictures you’d like at the top. I just loveloveLOVE it !!

Here’s some pics of the greatest products -

CHECK OUT -

http://www.awe.fi/design/
http://www.kamui.fi/
http://www.lauravainola.com/

Antti Asplund
Marita Huurinainen with First Crush bags
Jolier with Kaipaus jewellery
Deadbirds & Lionheart
Tyra Therman with I Made This accessories
Awe with Tanja Kurittu’s jewellery

Here’s some photos courtesy of the talented Kai Kuusisto -

I worked 24/7 for weeks to get this all done and I can honestly say I was so very very proud of what we accomplished as it all looked beautiful !
We could only get this done with the help of some great people - THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !!
Maria, Miia, Mesimarja, Marii, Tommi, Tomi, Tuomas, Jani, Nora, Kai, Ville, all the gorgeous models, all the dressers, all the hair & make up people, Helsinki Design Week, Zio, Tizziana, Brand Model Management, everyone who was there to watch !!!
There will most definitely be more to follow this one - BETTER, BIGGER AND MORE BEAUTIFUL !! Watch this space

Next weekend 28.-29.8.2010 there’s a fantastic event at the Cable Factory here in Helsinki ! Here’s some info.
Enter the worlds of young creativity:
Showrooms of eleven Finnish Designers will be opened on the balcony of Merikaapelihalli, Cable Factory, during the Helsinki Design Market 28.–29.8.2010 11am-5pm.
You will see the collections by -
Antti Asplund
Dead Birds & Lionheart
Marita Huurinainen
Jolier
Tyra Therman
Kaipaus
Laskowscy Design
Rantakoski Design
First Crush by Mari Himmanen
Aino Bergman
I Made This by Tiina Palm
Tiia Arkko

IMT has a kick ass showroom at the event (I’m planning a crazy, warped view into my mind through my living room .. You have to see it to believe it ..) and I have my first photography exhibition in 8 years on site as well.
Also I’m co-ordinating & styling a VIP fashion show for saturday evening and my IMT autumn/winter collection will be seen on the catwalk for the first time ever. Tiina Palm quadruple trouble, watch out ! I’m so excited !!

This event will be great and the fashion show even greater, so I sincerely hope you can all make it there.
If you want to come see the VIP show, go register at -
http://madeby.fi/events

For those of you who won’t be able to make it there, I’ll post lots of photos afterwards ! Have fun friends <3

In the meanwhile exciting things are happening to my friends as well - Teemu Keisteri, the godfather of the already legendary Ukkeli -series has a new exhibition at the Kalleria gallery in Kallio, Helsinki, during August.
For this exhibition, Teemu has recreated some famous paintings from the golden age of Finnish fine arts, for example Lemminkäisen äiti and Kullervon kirous by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, but Ukkeli style obviously.
At the exhibition there is also on sale some of Teemu’s Ukkeli products, and let me tell you - everyone should own an original Ukkeli t-shirt or bag !

Here’s a few photos, but I highly recommend going to see the exhibition in person as the fluorescent colours can really only be seen live. UKKELI GOES SUOMITAIDE -exhibition is open

29.7.- 11.8.2010 tue-sun 12pm-7pm
Galleria Kalleria
Kaarlenkatu 10
Helsinki, Finland

Enjoy !

Check these out -

Saara’s shoes are now sold at Helsinki 10.
http://saarakivimaki.blogspot.com/

I was asked to make this mask for the multitalented musical maestro Michael Black Electro.
As an artist, he has as many faces as his music has styles & dimensions, so this project was full on creative and funfunfun !
If you don’t know MBE’s music, you definitely should. I recommend checking him out on myspace and even more so, live whenever you possibly can. That’s where the magic really happens. Check out all the info here -
http://www.myspace.com/michaelblackelectro

The mask was constructed out of barnacle goose feathers (found from the shores of Helsinki), leather and metal studs. And of course with special care, peace & love.

Milenka in the artists’ own words :
“Milenka was born 3 years ago when Gini Helie and oOmiaq met.
She travelled between London and Sydney, singing for bands such as Riot in Belgium, the Pyramids and Fait Accompli.
He collaborated with AIR, Jean Louis Murat and even did an album with a troop of children and Camille. They’re both illustrators and multi-instrumentists.

Our home-studio is on top of a mountain at 900m altitude.
This is where most of the songs were written, inspired by moutains and forest.
We collect sounds and ideas just like a painter would use colors, a thick black stroke for bass, some yellow stripes for a balinese harp, a shade of pink for voices ect…
It’s also a tribute to animals, tribes and spirits.

Our baby boy Nanook was also a big source of inspiration. We blend vintage electronic sounds with acoustic instruments, along with rubbing stones on the ground and ethnic vocals.
You can find yourself walking alongside streams, liftings pebbles, listing to made up languages.
Camille came along to play, together we created our own kind of tribe, a troop that invents our world music.”

Get a taste of what Milenka is all about here -
http://www.myspace.com/milenkathepyramids

And then go buy the album here -
http://milenka.bigcartel.com/

Well worth recommending to everyone !!