KOE FASHION SHOW

koe 24 logo

Lahti 16.5

Lahden Kaupungintalo

HELSINKI 28.5

Makasiini L3

The annual KOE Fashion Show is a vibrant event, spotlighting the emerging talent of fashion designers from LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts.

KOE24 unveils the graduate collections of 15 talented designers, each created with a unique perspective, extensive research, and profound inspiration. The themes of this year’s graduate collections include cultural sustainability, artificial intelligence, zero waste patterning, life cycle assessment in design and more.

Fundamentally, the KOE Fashion Show serves as a stage for brilliant collections and forward-thinking designers, signalling the future of fashion through creativity and passion.

THE DESIGNERS

Aino Syrjö

1/15

Anni Hurmalainen

2/15

Carla Nordlund

3/15

Emmi Rouvila

4/15

Emmi Saavalainen

5/15

Emmi Sipari

6/15

Enna-Tuppuraine

Enna Tuppurainen

7/15

Hanna Leppänen

8/15

Henna-Laine

Henna Laine

9/15

Into Alkio

10/15

Mia Lorenz

11/15

Pihla Paljärvi

12/15

Siiri Ahonen

13/15

Vera Harjunalanen

14/15

Vilma Savolainen

15/15

info

KOE TEAM

Anni Hurmalainen

Enna Tuppurainen

Hanna Leppänen

Vera Harjunalanen

Aino Syrjö

Into Alkio

Emmi Sipari

Emmi Saavalainen

Pihla Paljärvi

Vilma Savolainen

Mia Lorenz

Henna Laine

Emmi Rouvila

Carla Nordlund

Oskari Silvennoinen

Siiri Ahonen

supporting TEAM

Event coordinator: Susanna Björklund

Photographer: Mark Sergeev, Aino Ahola ja Salla Tammilehto

Video: Aino Ahola

Graphic designer: Nora Nieminen

Digital Development: Hash Varsani | hashvarsani.com

PRESS

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previous shows

KOE Fashion Show 2021
KOE 2020
KOe 2019
KOE Fashion Show 2018
KOE Fashion Show 2017
KOE Fashion Show 2016
KOE Fashion Show 15
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1/15

Aino Syrjö

Teddy’s Daydream

Aino Syrjö, a graduating fashion designer, studies how to turn old and used stuffed animals into wearable clothes and accessories. Aino describes her design style as playful and colorful yet chic. She likes to challenge herself and play with color and texture, constantly searching for something new and fresh. Aino keeps people interested with her unique take on fashion, focused on expressive playfulness.

In her thesis collection, she wants to reminisce the golden memories and innocence of old stuffed animals by finding a new phase in their lifecycle. Aside from her own motivations for this project, she aims to find a new purpose for used toys to avoid them becoming waste.

Aino’s core message is to remind people that there is sweetness and softness in the simplest things around us. She implores us to pause and exist in the moment with the memories and feelings that the cute animals hold. Explore how something so childish as a used stuffed animal can turn into a garment for grown-ups to enjoy today.

@ainodesign | aino2.syrjo@gmail.com

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2/15

Anni Hurmalainen

Good Against Evil

Anni’s thesis deals with the difference between the clothing of female and male characters in video games. The research was based on questions such as why the clothing of female and male characters differs from each other, and how to design clothes for female characters without sexualizing them.

In the collection, she focused on developing the problems that had arisen, such as the unnecessary lack of clothing of the characters and the clothing imbalance between the female and male characters.

As a designer, Anni takes inspiration from her surroundings and past fashion trends, and she always keeps the consumer in her mind.

 @annihur | anni.hurmalainen@gmail.com

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Photography:  Mark Sergeev @markymvrk

Model: Melanie Rose @melbero

Assistant: Aino Kataja @ainokataja

3/15

Carla Nordlund

GM SEASON 2

Streetwear is a part of Carla’s designer identity and as a designer, Carla is interested in questioning the norms regarding clothing. To Carla, it is fun and necessary to break boundaries, now and then. Carla is inspired by fabrics and how to use them in unpredictable ways.

Carla’s thesis explores the possibilities of shirring and other gathering methods. What kind of place do they have in the streetwear world? Streetwear is known for its functionality but shirring can often be found as a decorative special technique. Can these two worlds collide successfully?

@gangstamarla | carlanordlund@outlook.com

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4/15

Emmi Rouvila

KAJO

Emmi Amanda Rouvila is a designer whose creative journey is deeply intertwined with her dual heritage, where the raw beauty of northern nature encounters the practicality and peace of Auttoinen village. Emmi’s design philosophy revolves around three core values: the use of reusable materials, a commitment to cultural sustainability, and the creation of versatile unique designs.

In her thesis collection, she examines the characteristics of cultural sustainability in Finland. What is the Finnish identity in the context of fashion design? Overall, the thesis is designed to promote cultural sustainability in textile design and to highlight what it means in the context of fashion design. How does cultural sustainability manifest in the product, and why is it important to consider it in the product design process?

@earatelier | emmirouvila@gmail.com

 

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5/15

Emmi Saavalainen

Roots

As a designer, Emmi Saavalainen is interested in how our clothes are woven into our history and heritage. Her work combines the themes of past, present and folklore. She is especially interested in print design because It combines her interest in clothing design and fine art.

In her thesis collection, Emmi draws inspiration from the Karelian textile tradition. Can a fashion designer work to maintain and preserve cultural heritage? With her print design, she tries to bring the tradition into a modern context. She has created the prints in collaboration with the company Rykkeri. The prints are made using a traditional screen printing method.

@emmisaavalainen | emmi.saavalainen@gmail.com

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6/15

Emmi Sipari

Mymana

Emmi Sipari is a graduating fashion designer, who in her thesis explores felting as a method to bind tufted surfaces and how the technique could work in clothes and accessories. In her collection, she uses tufting to revisualize sceneries from her childhood. Emmi is especially interested in working with yarn, which is a reason for her interest in tapestry techniques, embroidery and knitting.

When designing Emmi aims to create products that have clarity and are visually impressive but also emit the feel of handicraft traditions. As a source for inspiration Emmi often uses photographs that she has taken herself or that she has found in her family’s photo albums.

@emmiinkeri_design | emmi.sipari@gmail.com

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7/15

Enna Tuppurainen

Extraterrestrial Enemy

In her thesis, Enna Tuppurainen, a graduating fashion designer, studies how designers can design collaboration projects between video games and fashion brands. The idea for the thesis came from a trend she had noticed where fictional and digital worlds are being brought to real life in the fashion and music industry.

In her thesis, Enna studies the differences and similarities between fashion design and character design and designs a fashion-based hypothetic collaboration collection between herself as a fashion designer and a videogame called Fortnite. She also utilizes 3D printing in the collection as a production method.

@enna.tuppurainen | ennaaurora@gmail.com

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8/15

Hanna Leppänen

Hanna Leppänen is a graduating fashion designer whose design is based on various themes. Hanna’s design is experimental and she approaches different projects openly. She is especially interested in material manipulation techniques.

In her thesis work, she delves into the history of pearls in clothing. She explores alternative materials for pearls.
How could one imitate the form and texture of a pearl sustainably?

Hanna’s thesis collection showcases craftsmanship as well as interesting details and materials.

hannna.leppanen@gmail.com

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Photography: Mark Sergeev @markymvrk
Assistant: Emmi Rouvila @emmirouvila
Model: Pauliina Komssi @pauliinakomssi
Sonya Puttonen @s0ny4444
Pinja Sutinen @pinjasutinen

9/15

Henna Laine

Ambivalence

In her thesis collection, Henna focuses on trends from the 19th century in today’s world and how old trends become fashionable again. She considers trends as interesting developmental phenomena that draw inspiration from the past, the present and the future.

“AMBIVALENCE” is a womenswear collection that merges two worlds: the past and the present. It explores the question: what makes an old trend trendy again?
The collection is inspired by contradictions, like soft and delicate mixed with harsh and heavy. She wants the collection’s garments to be able to be mixed and matched together or styled in different ways.

As a designer, Henna is interested in multi-functionality. She is driven by the idea that garments could be adaptable to different situations and styles. She wants to bend the boundaries of casual wear with diverse silhouettes, colours and a mix of contrasting styles. She wants her designs to be a little extra, but also something that could be worn for many years.

@hennalainedsgn | henttulaine@gmail.com

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10/15

Into Alkio

Organic Destruction

Into Alkio is a designer, who draws inspiration from nature, global events, and people. He tells conceptual stories through his creations, utilizing various material manipulation techniques. Through these techniques, he crafts interesting textures, liveliness, and volume for garments. His goal is to create emotionally evocative and memorable ensembles.

In his thesis, Into explores the possibilities of chenille technique in the design and production of avant-garde clothing collections. His goal is to innovate and renew the technique and showcase the results in the collection. What is possible to achieve with the technique?

@intoalkio | ibbu.alkio@gmail.com

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11/15

Mia Lorenz

TAITE

Mia Lorenz is a designer, who loves to invent, explore and learn new things. She is fascinated by shapes, sculpture, theatre and art. All her ideas have been collected in an ever-growing pile of sketchbooks.

In her graduate collection TAITE (FOLD), Mia was inspired by the concept of origami. Over centuries, this Japanese art form of folding paper has evolved to design things like airbags or equipment that can be transported into space.

Her thesis explores the possibilities this technology could offer for the clothing industry. A zero-waste design concept, folding clothing from modular squares of fabric: only folds, no cuts. The clothes are held together in a way where they can be easily folded, unfolded and re-folded.

A pant could become a dress, a dress a shirt and a shirt a skirt and so on.

@mia_lorenz_design |  mialorenzdesign@gmail.com

Photography: Mark Sergeev

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12/15

Pihla Paljärvi

Suit Yourself

suit yourself!
informal
an expression used either humorously or angrily to mean ‘do what you want to do’

Suit Yourself is a scenario of men’s suit trends for 2034. The collection’s appearance breaks the normal clean and symmetrical look of suits, still honouring the traditional form. The collection brings both positive and negative aspects of the future. The idea is to make people think, about what kind of future do we want.

Inspiration for the collection was born when Pihla was working in the suit industry and she saw how the suit trends and men’s attitude to suits change. As an apprentice, Pihla learned about the suit-selling and renting world. Pihla didn’t have previous knowledge of suits, but she quickly grew interested in them.

Pihla is an experimental, sustainable designer who likes to break boundaries and norms. Sustainability has always been the main focus of her designs and the materials she uses are often left-over fabrics, recycled materials or worn-out clothes.

@pihlapal  | @paljrvidesign  | paljarvipihla@gmail.com

 

13/15

Siiri Ahonen

Siiri Ahonen, a graduating fashion designer, describes herself as a creative creator. In her works, she deals with collective themes and feels that it is important to create a type of bond between the makers themselves and the viewers. Currently, her creativity resonates with movement, playfulness, wonder and connection. Through various projects, encounters and studies, she has grown into an explorative, sensitive and persistent maker. The most loved and difficult part of creative projects is the dialogue between the creating, the subject and the makers.

In her thesis, she deals with adulthood, play and dressing up through the means of performance. She is interested in whether wearable design can increase well-being in everyday life. The moving picture combines the themes of play and dressing up. The end result of the work is a video and picture work, which has been executed in cooperation with various individuals in the field of design.

siiriahonen.wordpress.com | @ahosensiiri  | ahonensiiri1@gmail.com

14/15

Vera Harjunalanen

During her studies, Vera Harjunalanen got into making glass bead earrings and eventually ended up putting her jewellery up for sale. As part of her thesis, she carried out trial sales for her jewellery through different sales channels.

In her thesis, Vera investigates how a designer can start to build a solid foundation for business with the help of trial sales. She researches the topic through her own experience and uses her findings to compile a guide for designers who are interested in the matter.

As a designer, Vera is very down-to-earth and accessible. For her, nature has always been a very important source of inspiration and strength. She is a very user-oriented designer, always trying to see the user and the usage situation of her products.

@verahdesign | vera.h.designkorut@gmail.com

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15/15

VILMA SAVOLAINEN

Down the Rabbit Hole

In her thesis, graduating fashion designer Vilma Savolainen explores how fashion designers can utilise-
lize generative AI for inspiration and innovation. She studies how AI can enhance the design process.

In her bachelor’s thesis, Vilma explores the use of AI in the design process and emphasizes the importance of responsibly integrating AI into the fashion industry while preserving individual creativity.

In the process of creating her graduate collection, Vilma integrates AI-generated visuals to enhance her themes. While maintaining her unique creativity, she sees AI as a tool to amplify her artistic vision. Her collection encompasses various themes, including romantic surrealism, glamour, and nineties hip-hop. Driven by narratives and romanticism, Vilma aims to craft unique pieces that resonate with wearers.

@vilmavelt | vilma.velt@outlook.com