Inside Fashion in Helsinki 2026: From shaping Nordic identity to platforming new voices

This month, Helsinki is preparing for a new edition of its annual Fashion in Helsinki event. With an official schedule running May 26 to 30, the occasion is overflowing with independent, young, and in some cases well-established talent from the region, underlining the city’s status as a growing fashion capital.

While many of these locations prioritise marketable, commercial trade, Finland has taken a starkly different path. Brands like Marimekko are among only a few to have punctuated the international market, and names like Rolf Ekroth and Latimmier may spark some recognition beyond the Nordic borders. Yet for Helsinki in Fashion, the focus on emerging names is intentional.

A design-centric industry

Compared to other countries in Scandinavia typically driven by commercially-successful fashion machines, Finland’s own industry is concentrated on design. According to Martta Louekari, the communications director of Juni Communication & Production, designers tend to create a vision for the brand before building a team around it, as opposed to relying on branding agencies and experienced founders. The system is comparable to that of Antwerp, following a model rooted in heritage craftsmanship and tailoring.

Akin to the Belgian fashion capital, the Finnish event has been built on the foundations of the local industry’s own singularities and hallmarks. Organisers have only strengthened this resolve as global interest becomes more wide-reaching. “Formerly, this country and its history was known for architecture and product design, but today, fashion is definitely one of the most interesting design principles coming from Finland,” Louekari told FashionUnited. “There are so many exciting things going on at the moment, and new brands are developing so fast.”

Commerciality in the context of individualised businesses

Commercial success isn’t one of the core values of Fashion in Helsinki, largely due to the individualised approaches of local creatives. Louekari notes that the strength of design talent in the region is palpable, with many graduates from Aalto University’s fashion department going on to work in large-scale luxury houses. Some of this talent occasionally returns to Finland, leveraging accumulated knowledge to launch their own labels. The number of such brands has accelerated in recent years, with Louekari stating that there are many that are less than five years old.

Retaining an identity so intrinsically ingrained in the avant garde is common, preserving a quality that runs deep in Finnish design history, evident in architecture and artisanal work as much as it is in fashion. “The question is how do you build a brand around these topics,” Louekari said. “We have some success stories of commercially recognised brands, but a shift we are seeing now is from young designers born directly into the internet era. The way they work and how the commercial side of a brand is built is new.”

Many of these designers opt to work solely in drops instead of seasonal collections, while sales may mainly be made through social media or their own channels, like an independent webstore. As a result, a new generation of vastly independent brands have emerged working in formats that fit them, rather than bending to the constraints of international systems; a far cry from the industries of traditional fashion regions.

Efforts to bolster global outreach can be seen in partnerships with other events like Copenhagen Fashion Week, for which Fashion in Helsinki has served as a knowledge partner. The Danish counterpart operates in a completely different commercial world to Finland, yet adheres to the same values surrounding emerging designer support and sustainability focus. Louekari said that while the collaboration has been very fruitful, connecting brands with buyers and other stakeholders, the two events have contrasting missions in terms of commerciality.

Marimekko as a staple of design heritage

Finland’s fashion heritage is also celebrated in the event, however. Ahead of Fashion in Helsinki’s launch, Marimekko Day, an occasion now over 30 years old, honours one of the country’s most iconic designer labels. This same remains true this year, when, on May 22, a series of fashion shows will be held at Esplanadi Park, ringing in the summer season.

For many in Finland, Marimekko is a brand they grew up with, associated with childhood memories and reflective of a historic design legacy. “It’s important in the sense of nostalgia,” Louekari said. “But it’s also a brand that has done well in communicating the Finnish lifestyle and our connection to nature into commercial products.”

The means in which Marimekko operates mirrors the intimacy of Finland’s design community, where everyone knows everyone. Louekari’s sister, for example, has worked with the brand for over 20 years as a pattern maker, while Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi, the founder of the Vuokko label, also previously worked under the brand, and is credited with creating the Jokapoika shirt, one of Marimekko’s foundational styles.

When hosting an event within this compact space, Louekari said ensuring a consistency in quality, design and concept when curating the schedule has been key. Maintaining a balance between global names like Marimekko and emerging voices from Aalto University or other platforms is a central challenge, and is carried out in varying presentation formats, from exhibitions to collective fashion shows.

Fashion in Helsinki 2026 schedule

Four of the events this year look to spotlight a selection of recently graduated or new designers. The KOE26 show on May 26 will showcase the collections of 10 graduated designers exploring varying themes. The following day, the Fashion in Helsinki Presentation at Seurasaari will platform 11 emerging Finnish designers, each bringing a fresh perspective to Nordic fashion. This is then followed by the Aalto Graduation Show, a runway and exhibition featuring the work of BA and MA fashion students. Finally, the Evol fashion show will debut a new concept to promote its platform for creative talent.

These sit alongside runway shows, installations and presentations by brands like Christian Chirayu by Oliver Ahlmark; material-driven label Studio Lamea; Sofia Ilmonen, a modular garment designer; Otsamo, a brand focused on modern tailoring and craftsmanship; Vain, a former Copenhagen Fashion Week participant; and Alex Luonto, a fashion artist who will be hosting a show accompanied by the exhibition ‘The Blueprint’.

Various exhibitions at partnered museums then complement the schedule, adding to the goal of spotlighting new talent. On the opening day, the Museum of Architecture and Design’s Craft Punk exhibition, curated by Fashion Community Helsinki and Juha Vehmaanperä, will turn into a fashion evening and guided tour. The Exhibition Generation 2026 at Amos Rex museum, meanwhile, is hosting a triennial of 50 young multimedia artists as well as a pop-up gallery store, ‘SS26 Space’.

“Fashion is so much about conceptual collections and treating fashion as an art form, it has always made sense to collaborate,” Louekari said, adding that many of these museums have remained collaborators and partners to Fashion in Helsinki for extended durations.

Third edition of Finnish Fashion Awards

To honour the industry as a whole, Helsinki in Fashion established the Finnish Fashion Awards, a relatively new ceremony that is coming into its third edition. The initiative aims to recognise players spanning all corners of the local community, from makeup artists to those overseeing sustainable implementation and retail. “We realised that on top of designers we should also acknowledge the value of work in other areas, and celebrate those as well,” Louekari said.

This year will see the introduction of the Designer of the Year category, an addition to the existing Talent Prize yet with a sharper focus on creative vision and craftsmanship. The awards will also collaborate with music event Flow Festival on the Style Icon of the Year award, recognising content creators. “It’s really nice to celebrate the industry together and invite everybody in one evening to see each other and network,” Louekari added.