Nordic fashion talent is a force to be reckoned with. The 2024 edition of ALPHA presented ten unique collections, created by emerging designers across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden: Alex Luonto, Andreas Hermann Bloch, Anni Salonen, Idaliina Friman, Ingrid Pettersson, Kelly Konings, Liana Paberza, Ruusa Vuori, Thelma Rut Gunnarsdoìttir and Tilde Herold. As recent graduates from Nordic design schools, their work is created with creative freedom and critical minds. Yet the designers showed convincing maturity, strong design skills and compelling silhouettes created with precision and sustainable methodologies.
ALPHA has teamed up with key international institutions to support the designers in their early careers. As part of a wider Nordic museum collaboration, Ruusa Vuori and Tilde Herold were awarded the Exhibition Prize, and the designers will be featured in the forthcoming exhibition ‘Beyond Bodies’ at the National Museum in Oslo. The curators were impressed with their sculptural flair and exploration of shapes through diverse creative perspectives. “Ruusa Vuori explores the sensory aspects of garments and the body’s multi- sensory relationship with materials. With a dancing background, the designer’s embodied knowledge is materialised in wearable, sculptural pieces and body-wrapping garments with surrealist details and unexpected openings. Tilde Herold examines power dressing from a female perspective, using the plastic bag as an abstraction of neutral shape. Each garment originates from the plastic bag’s construction, and the collection is an exercise in creating shape, with a deliberate clash of materials and voluminous, padded and multifunctional silhouettes, empowering a new femininity.”
As part of a new partnership with The Row, Idaliina Friman was selected by the label for a paid internship at the Paris studio. “Idaliina’s collection successfully conveys the emotion with which she imagined it, combining the research into her heritage with a modern take on the proposed silhouettes. With a mindful approach to her fabric selection, and thorough exploration of her garment’s construction, the outcome is extremely sophisticated and polished.”, says Daniele Pelucchi, International Human Resources Manager at The Row.
This marks the second year of the ALPHA 1 Granary mentorship prize, which includes a one- year mentorship with 1 Granary founder Olya Kuryshchuk. In a context of an oversaturated emerging designer scene, and an industry that makes it increasingly difficult for them to build sustainable businesses, fashion needs designers who are not only great creative thinkers but also mature and reflective makers. This is why this year, Olya has selected not one, but two recipients whose work takes conceptual narratives and transforms them into meaningful designs. “The processes of Tilde Herold and Andreas Hermann Bloch demonstrate a key characteristic in modern design: the ability to merge the conceptual stage with shapes, textiles, colours, functionality, and sustainable materials. As designers with a cerebral approach to fashion, and eager to explore more innovative pathways in the industry, Tilde and Andreas, with the right mentorship and support, can contribute to a healthier fashion landscape filled with new ideas and thoughtful craftsmanship” says Olya Kuryshchuk.
ALPHA has again joined forces again with the iconic retail institution Browns Fashion. Anni Salonen was selected by Corinna Joseph, Womenswear Buyer New Gen, to create a capsule collection to launch exclusively at Browns Fashion, including support and mentorship. “Anni presented a collection that was one of duality: both current and future-focused, bringing a new perspective to up-cycling and really highlighting the need to relook at the materials we have at our fingertips and in excess – a priority for all our new brand partnerships. The craftsmanship was remarkable, her leather jacket in particular made all of the judges swoon – Anni had managed to breathe so much new life into the garment, it almost came alive,” says Corinna Joseph.
The ALPHA Award was presented to Ruusa Vuori. She received a cash prize of 50.000 DKK, alongside a ceramic art piece by Karl Monies and a study trip to UEDA College of Fashion in Osaka in Japan with all expenses covered. “Managing to translate life’s most complex concepts and emotions into minimal and sensitive designs is one of the hardest things for a designer to do and Ruusa achieved just that. Her body-centric practice uses fashion-making as a tool for artistic exploration and this methodology leads to original and experimental, yet subtle garments that feel grandiose, confessing their strong and multi-layered foundations,” said the jury.
All finalists are invited to create profiles on the recruitment platform Eyes on Talents that connects emerging designers with international brands and fashion labels.
ALPHA is supported by the Nordic Culture Fund, the Danish Arts Foundation, Beckett-Fonden, Manufakturhandlerforeningen i Kjøbenhavns Almene Fond, CIFF, Eyes on Talents and Copenhagen Fashion Week.
Members of jury:
Olya Kuryshchuk, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, 1 Granary
Mariasole Pastori, Talent Acquisition Consultant
Daniele Pelucchi, International Human Resources Manager, The Row
Corinna Joseph, WW Buyer – Next Gen, Browns Fashion
Anders Sølvsten Thomsen, Stylist and Creative Consultant
Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Director, ALPHA
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With love,
FWO
