Fashion Design for Dreamers

Now in its 14th year, Habitus Baltija has become one of the biggest       fashion events in the Baltics. An acclaimed international competition for young fashion designers, Habitus Baltija 2014 coincided with two essential Latvian cultural events, Riga Culture Capital 2014 and Riga  Fashion and Textile Week. As the reputation of the competition balloons on the Baltics’ cultural calendar, so too does the prestige of winning.

The Best Designer award went to Anna Alanko of Finland for her collection, SS14. Alanko is an alumna of Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Finland. She has been featured in Finland’s edition of Elle magazine, interned in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Finland, and worked in Japan. In addition to the title of the Best Fashion Designer, Alanko also won a certificate of Summer Courses at IED Milan, Italy, an invitation to take part in Fashion Week Belarus, free publicity from the fashion portal Not Just a Label and an invitation to participate in the Fashion Mill competition in Minsk, Belarus.

You’ve worked throughout Europe and most recently in Japan. How have the places you’ve worked in influenced your designs?
Travelling in general is inspiring. But living in foreign cities, experiencing them as a local might and working alongside people from diverse origins is even better - you get a deeper insight into different cultures and customs. Having worked in various fashion and textile companies in Europe, having visited producers, textile mills and designers in Japan, China and Korea, I’ve been able to observe and take part in different creative processes, which has introduced me to new working methods, which in turn has made me a bolder, more playful designer.

Did you have an epiphany moment when you realized you wanted to be a designer?
Not really. It was more of a process. I knew from a very early age I wanted to do something creative, but finding my field was a little bit challenging. As a teenager I went to an art high school, which gave me the opportunity to take all the art classes I wanted, so I did basically everything from ceramics to oil painting and from woodblock printing to photography. During my studies, I realized that being a designer suited me better than being an artist, so I applied to study fashion design and photography and ended up getting in the Fashion and Clothing Design program in Aalto University. At university I realized that besides fashion design I also want to do textile design, because an amazing textile creates a foundation for a great garment.

What qualities do you look for in a fabric? Click here for more...
Find more spectacular student-run fashion shows on Fashion Glitter