The most promising names on Finland’s new fashion scenario will be the stars of the Guest Nation project sponsored by the Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery during Pitti Immagine Uomo 93 (Florence, 9-12 January 2018).
Eight Finnish brands and designers have been chosen to present their collections in the special area of the Spazio Carra (Main Pavilion – Lower Level) of the Fortezza da Basso, and also during an event in town during Pitti Uomo.
The names of the GUEST NATION FINLAND participants are: Mannisto (Julia Männistö), Viner Articles (Heikki Salonen), Nomen Nescio, Saint Vacant, Formal Friday (Teemu Muurimäki), Ikla Wright x Turo, Maria Korkeila x R-Collection, and Rolf Ekroth.
The eight brands represent the most interesting and promising Finnish menswear brands. There are rewarded young designers graduated from Aalto University like Rolf Ekroth and Julia Männistö’s Mannisto label and more established brands like urban workwear brand Formal Friday, classic shoe brand Saint Vacant and minimalistic Nomen Nescio. The Finnish heritage brands Turo and R-Collection are showcasing collaborations with young designers. Turo will collaborate with a London based Finnish designer Ikla Wright. R-Collection will show in Pitti a capsule collection realised by an internationally renowed young designer Maria Korkeila. Finnish Heikki Salonen, launches his new men’s wear brand Vyner Articles in Pitti.
“We are happy to present Guest Nation Finland at the forthcoming edition of Pitti Uomo,” says Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine. “Our fair offers visibility and business opportunities to the up-and-coming names on the international fashion scene. Finland is becoming one of the most dynamic and creative places in fashion today, and that is why – together with the Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery – we have decided to present eight of Finland’s most innovative brands to our international audience of buyers and the press who will definitely find these collections interesting”.
“Guest Nation is one of the Fondazione Pitti Discovery’s key projects”, adds Lapo Cianchi, Pitti Immagine Director of Communications and Events, and General Secretary of the Fondazione Pitti Discovery. “The project is in its eighth year and it allows us to research countries that are coming onto the contemporary fashion scene. The names we will present at Pitti Uomo, and that encompass special projects created specifically for the occasion, include very young designers as well as established brands. They all have their own ideas, and are all capable of expressing the essence of today’s Finnish design and lifestyles that are open to experimentation and cross-pollination between tradition and modernity. We are very pleased with the cooperation relationships created for this event and we are grateful to Finland’s institutions for their participation in the project.”
