Young Designer of 2008 stumbled on ash as material in clothing design
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By Jaana Laitinen
For 27-year-old Helsinki student Emma Soisalo the past spring has been a Cinderella story.
In early February she was struggling with a project she had due for clothing design. She was in a hurry, and not even the smallest morsel of an idea appeared to emerge.
Now she holds the title of Young Designer of the Year for 2008. The honour is given to a young clothing designer who presents new ideas and interesting solutions in his or her competitive work.
“I have moved forward personally, and as a designer as well. My own vision has gained strength.”
It all started - with ash.
Soisalo was attending a course at the University of Art and Design Helsinki on the Finnish tradition of clothing. In past years, the same materials were often re-used several times.
During the course, Soisalo also collected all kinds of junk, including used cardboard and paper. She saved her collection of trash next to the fireplace.
“One evening I began to burn it. Then I noticed the ash. I noticed that different materials produce different coloured ash and beautiful shades of grey.”
She first mixed the ash with egg, and painted sheets with it. The colours disappeared when washed. Then she sprinkled ash on textile glue and pressed it into the fabric.
“That also did not hold. I understood that the ash needs to be mixed with the glue. Then it began to succeed.”
Soisalo is an enthusiastic cook and baker. This gives her a “touch for mixing”. When ash is stirred rapidly into the glue, the colours do not get too mixed up with each other.
The front of her T-shirt contains a decorative print that has been dyed with ash, where there are many different shades and textures of ashen grey: lumps, stripes, and even spaces.
Even shades happen when ash is first mixed with a small amount of glue, and then the colour is mixed with the rest of the glue. That trick is also borrowed from baking bread.
“I laughed at times, when the kitchen table was full of cans with numbers on them. From the numbers I could tell what kind of ash was in what kind of glue.
When she presented her idea to the other students, everyone was quiet at first. Then the instructor of the class asked if she understood what a wonderful idea she had behind it all.
The idea of the ash paint is that everything is ultimately trash, Emmakaisa Soisalo explains.
“Ash contains the end of the old and the beginning of the new.”
For the Young Designer contest she made a summer outfit including shorts, a t-shirt, and a top. Instead of a jacket, she chose a cape.
The ornaments are of ash, the materials are cotton and silk. The colours of the cloth are even: ashen grey, blue of the heart of the flame, and fire orange.
The idea was that when the clothes are no longer used, they can be burned, yielding more ash that can be used for making something new. The name of the entry was Kiertokulku (“Cycle”).
Her textile art studies will keep Soisalo busy and in Helsinki until the end of next year. When work and studies come on hard, she unwinds by baking bread, cooking food, and running.
“By running I release all of my bad energy. At times I also go home to Hamina.there I am able to go into nature and meet friends.”
Emmakaisa is the second cousin of singer Saara Soisalo and actress Minna Soisalo, and she hopes that she can find an “appropriate group of designers” in the future, which she might join.
“I want to design something other than just clothes. I might become bored if I concentrated on clothing alone.”
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 14.8.2008
Soisalo’s winning clothing can be seen at the Helsinki Fashion Fair on November 14th and 25th.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.8.2008 - THIS WEEK |
 Young Designer of 2008 stumbled on ash as material in clothing design |
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