Auri Lukkarinen

Lukkarinen’s MA thesis collection is inspired by personal, bodily, and sensory experiences on the rave dancefloor, dancing to electronic techno music. "I am interested in those fleeting, intense moments of freedom and joy on the dancefloor and how they can be sensed, remembered, and translated into clothing. In a way, the collection attempts to freeze these moments from my happy place." For Lukkarinen, the rave environment is a kind of parallel reality that feels safe, like a calming hug from within. It also raises practical considerations for clothing, such as how to carry essentials without a bag and how fit and material can support the body. The garments are shaped by the need for freedom to move, feel, express, and exist without restriction." This collection takes a sensory approach to rave culture and attempts to design from within the experience rather than from observation. In the collection, material study plays a central role, for example by merging knit and latex into a new, interesting hybrid and by exploring puffed/filled latex." Material exploration and textile creation are central to the collection. In addition to designing their own materials from scratch, Lukkarinen manipulated and reworked pre-owned fabrics. There is a particular interest in non-woven and hybrid materials. ADF-knit structures merge with liquid latex, and explorations include puffed and filled latex structures. The combinations reflect tensions between breathable and sealed, and between organic and synthetic. Visually, the work captures fragments of the dancefloor at its peak: strobe lights, sweat, repetition, rhythm. The prints translate these sensations, freezing movement and embodying beats, almost like a mathematical cycle or loop. Inspiration is drawn from worn, intimate details: salty sweat stains on black leather boots after hours of dancing, worn-out and broken socks, all traces of presence, use, and endurance.