Oh, the joy of that dress! The one you wear constantly because it just feels right, and all of your sisters borrow it all the time. Everyone feels elevated wearing it. It’s a favourite.
Oh, the joy of just doing what you want to do! Having a feeling and flowing with it! Tracing favourites. Effortless. Fabrics of silk wrapping loosely around the body. Floating trouser legs, elastic bands, slits, top stitches and dropped shoulders. Prints loosely referring to aerial pictures of lakey landscapes. The countryside! Places, where the mind can rest. Oh, the joy of delicate memories! Days spent doing nothing and doing all one loves. Oh, the joy of favourites!
“I have sewn squares of fabric until they become skirts. Until I have been fluttering around in it. That’s when I’ve known it is ready. When it invites me to float across a room”, designer Elina Äärelä explains the process of her new collection, “Every garment can be traced to the favourites of my own closet”. The collection has taken a year to make. It has been created in a small one bedroom apartment. In a home. A favourite place. Pouring nailpolishes to create uncontrolled prints, cutting fabrics on the bathroom floor, sewing by the kitchen table. Just for the sake of joy! The perfect t-shirt. The everyday trousers. That dress.
Oh, the joy of my sisters’ dress! A favourite.
Photography: Sofia Okkonen
Model: Jeanine Muyima
BTS Photography: Nora Pesso & Elina Äärelä
Assistant: Nora Pesso
Location Photography: Anna, Elina & Vilma Äärelä
Text: Sofia Järnefelt
Supported by: Arts Promotion Centre Finland
