Over the last decade, the fashion scene in Finland has seen a significant shift towards technology and inclusivity. Our Gender Fluidity expert, Mikko Puttonen, explores this ten-year-long transition at Helsinki Design museum's new exhibition 'Intimacy'
Featuring 40 companies with Finnish roots, Helsinki Design museum's exhibition " Intimacy" explores the politicisation and digital disruption of fashion and beyond.
“In the context of fashion, of course, the question of Intimacy is absolutely central," Annamari Vänskä, a professor at Aalto University and the curator of the exhibition, explains. "On the one hand, clothing is like our second skin, at the same time a very intimate and public thing: it is a zone between me and the world and an opportunity to tell who I am or how I want to be seen. But, on the other hand, the understanding of the intimate relationship with clothing is changing due to digitalisation.”
Digital fashion house 'The Fabricant' is a good example in the exhibition, as part of the new wave of digital clothing. The moment when fashion moves from physical to digital and happens on the internet, gender doesn’t really matter as we can decide how our avatars appear. Vänskä has been exploring the cultural meaning of gender and how fashion challenges gender norms throughout her academic career, a study strongly reflected in the curation of Intimacy.
Photo: Paavo Lehtonen
Designs by Autuas Ukkonen. Photo: Paavo Lehtonen