Oliver Saarinen

It was between the shelves of a grocery store that Oliver Saarinen’s collection firsttook shape. The careless mixture of clothing that is between the first in line on yourway out the door and something that you are already wearing. The everydayuniforms. In his BA thesis work, Saarinen explores how the person wearing theclothing and the environment in which it is worn affect the way we perceive everydayclothing. And what if we change something we have become so used to? "For me, the most interesting thing about clothing is seeing the garment in use.A person can use the same pair of pants and a jacket on two differentoccasions, yet the environment can make the garment appear entirelydifferent." All design choices in his collection come from observations about his environment,personal likings or from something needed from the garment. When living in Helsinki,the effects of nature are present, so when dressing up, you can’t ignore thepossibility of quick snow or rain. The collection is also heavily inspired by sports andoutdoor clothing used daily. Materials and a train-kind-of-thought are central in Saarinen’s design process. In thework, surplus and waste materials are given new meanings in the garments. "My way of working has always been very homegrown—making something outof whatever is available. Being creative to me is problem-solving. In thiscollection, I wanted to use materials that are familiar to everybody, like basic t-shirt cotton and see how it can be used in something like an outdoor jacket.Using mostly surplus and waste materials also helped me with the problem ofchoice. When having certain fabrics at hand, I can change the look and feelby dying, bonding and different finishings."