Vanessa Agostini

In this collection, sensorial experiences in nature serve as the starting point to discuss clothes and the fashionindustry. A collaborative approach with the forest and its entities has been employed to trigger a shift towards amore sustainable approach to fashion design. Here, the temporalities of nature and the fashion industry areconfronted and lead to the question: Can clothes designed in/with the forest inspire commitment and care? "In the forest, I was drawn to textures, temperatures and different materialities. I felt the need totouch them, explore them, not only with sight but also with other senses. Sometimes there couldbe an unexpected smell or sound, the moss could be surprisingly wet to the touch, and amushroom could produce a muffled sound when tapped." The development of the collection started with hand weaving, the qualities of different yarns and materialsapproached as reminders of those sounds, smells or textures. Weaving brought together memories andsensations through hands-on experimentation to further connect with the environment and as a catalyst forinspiration. "In the forest, feeling different materialities was making me emotional; I wanted to remember themoment of discovery and the feelings it was causing. I had the desire to bring these materialshome with me or to adorn my body with them." Through a trial-and-error approach, these sensorial and emotional memories have come to life as hand-printedtextiles, textured knits and woven jacquards, in high-quality materials intended for long-term use. At the sametime, the forest was a playground for volume explorations. "I was grounding myself in the moment and closing my eyes while touching moss and bark.Through this, I was noticing for the first time the clothes I was wearing, feeling them as anobstacle to movement, being too tight in some areas while moving, but also being afraid to getdirty when approaching the ground. I was feeling contrasting emotions." Noticing in the forest is a collection that aims to open a dialogue about the material value of clothes, to inspirecommitment and care towards the environment, and to attempt to infuse the beauty of the Finnish forest intoclothes.