The Nurmi #1 photo shoot took place in Pasila, under a bridge close to the rail road tracks where usually no one would go, unless you’re a junkie…

…But the magnificent photographer Antti Ahtiluoto saw the beauty of this rugged location and look how beautiful the photos turned to be:

The model Tiina is looking absolutely stunning!

Nurmi#1 will consist of shirts, dresses and accessories made out of organic cotton and surplus materials. All made in Finland.

The new collection will be available in September!

For the last six months or so I have been planning the new Nurmi collection – and finally soon I will have the chance to show it to you as well!

We had a photo shoot this monday in Helsinki. Here’s a quick taste of what’s to come:

Nurmi will present the new collection in Finnish Catwalk event in Helsinki 26.8.2011 and we will also participate Design Market 2011 in Kaapelitehdas, 10.-11.9.2011.

What are the most important things to consider when designing clothes? How to succeed in clothing industry? I was privileged to be interviewed together with the talented designers Marja Suna and Jasmiine Julin-Aro in the latest issue of Ornamo magazine (3/2011). Click the picture below to read the full story:

Nowadays the cycles of fashion trends are extremely fast. We are made believe that we need new pieces of clothing every month, every week, even every day. I want to slow things down. The Nurmi clothes are meant to last.

I have divided the garments and accessories into fall/winter and spring/summer collections, but many of the styles continue from one collection to another. That way all the new styles complement the older ones.

For the last half a year there hasn’t been that much going on with the Nurmi label. I have been extreme busy with other work, but now – finally – I have had time to concentrate on the new collections.

Here’s a sneak peek of the new fall/winter 2011 collection:

The new collection will consist of organic cotton, surplus materials and a totally new material for accessories (more about it soon!). Many of the styles will continue also to the spring/summer 2012 collection, which will be all about bold colors.

There were a lot of challenges when I started to design Nurmi collection: what to make, where to produce, how to make it as sustainable as possible… But the most difficult part was finding the best fabrics. They have to be ecological, ethical, good looking and long-lasting. It is difficult enough to find fabrics of good quality, but to find those which are also sustainable. Not at all easy!

The fabric used in the first Nurmi clothes was GOTS certified organic cotton from India. It was woven and finished in Great Britain. I have to admit: if I could choose the fabric used in the first collection again, I would choose differently. The quality has to be even better!

I learned that I have to concentrate even more on sourcing fabrics and testing the qualities. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last couple of months: Sourcing new qualities &  buying samples. Making protos and washing & wearing them.

Now I have chosen most of the qualities for the next two collections. I can assure you, they will be great!

There was an interview about me in Maailman Kuvalehti, issue 3/2011.

The reporter and photographer visited my office in Lahti. The photographer Lukas Pearsall took some nice shots. Here’s one that didn’t end up in the magazine. Me & my Nurmi jewellery.

photo: Lukas Pearsall / Maailman Kuvalehti

Finnish eco-lifestyle website Uusi Musta just wrote an article about whether or not ecology should be visible in eco clothes. I share the same opinion with writer Hertta: ecology should not be to visible, but it is an important value behind the garment.

I really dislike too complicated re-use designs or underlined environmental statements. A piece of eco clothing can look exactly the same as any other (well designed) garment, but when looked more closely you can find information of all the environmental and ethical aspects. That is the way it is supposed to be!

..and that is the way I make things. Even though I use a lot of recycled materials, I do not want the new products look like recycled. Here’s an example of a tote I made for Eat&Joy Maatilatori store in Helsinki. The material is all recycled, made in Finland:

As seen in the previous post, ecologically produced fabrics are  almost impossible to find directly from Finland. But one other thing possible to find is surplus material. Although not easy, but still possible!

As many factories have been run down during the past years, there is quite lot of leftover fabrics still around. For example these pattern fabrics, which will be used in the next Nurmi collections. Just a sneak peak:

In the future collections I will use both virgin materials as well as recycled fabrics. To be able to produce garments in a bigger scale, I need to mix old with new. But that’s only a good thing!

Today I visited Polarstoff which is pretty much the only fabric fair still organized in Finland. Every year it gets smaller and smaller.. and no wonder! There’s not much clothing industry left in Finland.

It has been quite many years since I last visited Polarstoff. It was during my final year of studies and I tried to find ecological fabrics for my thesis collection. No luck what so ever finding any.

But now I thought that there must have been an improvement! But what did I find: a bit of organic cotton, some bamboo (if that even can be categorized as ecological) and a tiny tainy amount of hemp. On top of that there was really little info about the certifications and production. So frustrating!

I guess I have to stick with my game plan and source online. What would I do without internet!

During the last year or so my face has been seen in a few magazines, newspapers and other media. I guess ecological fashion & lifestyle has been quite a popular topic!

A few years ago I never would have thought I would give interviews of any kind, because I have never liked being in front of a camera. But somehow I have gotten used to it – at least a bit. And all the interviews have been related to eco fashion, sustainability, my Vihreät Vaatteet blog and my Nurmi label, so it has been easy talking about them.

Here’s a couple of clips:

Voi Hyvin, Image, Kaleva, Helsingin Sanomat, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, Anna.