fashion: feature

The perfect Finnish

If you’re looking for a lift in your signature style, here are four tip-top Finnish designers from Helsinki sure to take your look to the next level by Karen Loftus
From issue 27 of Lucire

The printmaker
Marimekko is a great place to start or finish a look with their bold vintage prints. This globally known brand has been a powerhouse on the fashion front since the ’60s when fashion icon Jackie O. embraced the brand. H&M brought Marimekko, a Helsinki-based brand, back to the forefront, making it a summer must for fashionistas everywhere.
   This company is constantly reinventing, finding new ways to express itself, adding signature prints to their voluminous library. They have hired on young contemporary artists to create their next wave of prints. To ride this fashion curve, check them out online and pick a print that speaks to you and about you. It will have every envious Angeleno talking.
   This winter, grab a print to add an edge to your look or your living room. People or pillows can wear the brand. Fashion never looked or felt so good.

Ivana, Ivana
Designer Paola Ivana Suhonen is Finland’s super star designer. Her brand, Ivana Helsinki is to Helsinki what Marc Jacobs is to New York, Marni is to London and Karen Walker is to New Zealand. It’s quite simply the city. Everyone in Finland wants a piece of Ivana and this aspirational line. If you’re there, you will covet her coats. You’ll know it, when you see it. These head-turning finishes are layered, yet sleek and incredibly edgy.
   She calls her line a Finnish art brand. So, if you wish you could take your paintings public, now is your chance. Her creations come in many sizes and shapes, mainly Nordic in nature, a bit moody and blue. This year, slip in to Sundance with a sexy statement-making coat. It’s the only thing every one will see all week. It’s the perfect start and finish to see and be seen in.

Bag addict
Lumi designers, Finn Sanna Kantola and Frenchman Bruno Beaugrand, share a love of fashion and each other. This hot couple set up shop in Helsinki in ’07 to showcase their brand Lumi as well as others. Their bags are made with the best leathers, soft to the touch, seductive to the eye, complemented with fierce detail and metal finishes.
   It’s a bag made in fashion heaven and a favourite on both sides of the sea with a big following in New York and around the globe. Pick up a grey bag to lift your LA fashion spirits. If in town, pop in the shop in Helsinki, Lumi on 14, and check out Mhann, Lumi’s luxury streetwear bag line for men or the British brand Finsk, a London-based designer that makes architectural footwear worth the investment.

Sexy shoes in the city
Sexy urbanite and globally known fashionista Carrie Bradshaw and her Manhattan fashion mates were well known for their shoe fetish from Carrie’s famed Hello Lover to Charlotte’s foot fetish fan who gifted the goddess with free shoes for a cop and quickie foot feel.
   Hanna Sarén, one of the best known Finnish fashion designers, was also a fave of Carrie and S. J. P. on and off the screen. If you, like Carrie, want to step out in your own style, check out this edgy line online or pop in to the ambient shop in Helsinki. You just might catch the adorable designer in action. The shoes are delicious and well worth the fetish.

Sleeping beauty
For a fashionable night’s sleep, check out and check in to the Kamp Hotel in city centre where you are sue to get some regal sleep.
   This palace-like space is known to be a crash pad for rockers like U2 and the Rolling Stones. So be rock ready when you check in.
   For a unique boutique experience, GLO next door has ambiance, edge and the best beds in the city. You’ll be hard pressed to get out of bed. So, plan a head and make a night of it.
   For some chic sleep Klaus K, the designer hotel up the street, provides visual stimuli wherever the eye wanders. The lobby is a gallery unto itself that leads you weaves you in and out of hip neighbourhood bars with cool cocktails, hot bartenders and great eats. It’s a sensual feast from floor to finish as the rooms are super-sexy. •

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Above and left: Lumi’s very fashionable bags. Below left: Ivana Helsinki, who is to Helsinki what Marc Jacobs is to New York.

Hanna Sarén, one of the best known Finnish fashion designers, was also a fave of Carrie Bradshaw and S. J. P. on and off the screen. If you, like Carrie, want to step out in your own style, check out this edgy line online or pop in to the ambient shop in Helsinki