Many domestic fashion brands have been in trouble recently, but there is also some happy news.
For some time now, we have had to witness unpleasant news about the state of domestic fashion companies. Several Finnish fashion brands have suffered difficulties or had to close down.
As we explained earlier, many consumers feel that their own tighter financial situation is an obstacle to clothing consumption like before.
The economic situation is challenging for many Finnish fashion brands. However, there is no reason to sink completely into gloom: these domestic fashion companies also have good news.
New stores
Although so many domestic and foreign fashion brands have recently closed their brick-and-mortar stores, some are going against the grain.
Several Finnish brands have opened new brick-and-mortar stores.
Billebeino
Billebeino, a Finnish brand known for its street-credible style, founded in 2014, recently opened its own flagship store in the heart of Helsinki at the beginning of October.
Iltalehti reported earlier in the fall about the brand’s challenging financial situation. Now, however, Billebeino firmly believes in the vitality of the city center and in the fact that the fashion store operates in a brick-and-mortar store.
Ville Leino in the new Billebeino flagship store, which opened in the heart of Helsinki. Billebeino
– Rumors about the death of the city center are greatly exaggerated. People just need reasons to come here. Instead of just a clothing store, we built a low-threshold meeting place in line with our brand, where street fashion combines with art, sports and culture, assures the brand’s founding partner and chief designer Ville Leino.
He commented that the store has been very well received and the feedback from customers has been excellent.
If the image is not visible, you can view it from here.
Alpine
The domestic knitwear brand Alpa has also swum against the tide. It recently opened a brick-and-mortar store in the center of Helsinki
The CEO of the brand is happy with how well the customers have found the store.
– Up until now, the Helsinki store has consistently sold more than the sales target. We also have the same experience at the Jyväskylän store, where sales have only grown. The opening of the stores has clearly increased our sales, and through them we constantly get new customers that we wouldn’t get through online shopping alone, comments Lauri Hilliaho CEO of Alpa.
If the image is not visible, you can view it from here.
Nanso
Nanso, a long-time favorite of Finnish fashion, suffered financial difficulties in the early 2020s. It renovated its brick-and-mortar store and tried to get rid of the old look and image with the tricot shirt brand.
In the beginning of autumn, Nanso’s two-story brick and mortar store moved to new, larger premises on Aleksanterinkatu, the main shopping street in Helsinki’s parade ground.
What does the future look like?
Billebeino’s Ville Leino believes in the future of Finnish fashion.
– The economic situation in Finland is challenging. The fashion industry is of course struggling with the situation just like many other industries. All companies certainly have challenges, says Leino.
– However, I think that Finnish brands are developing all the time and new players are constantly coming. Turbulence and development is intense and continuous in the field. You have to be brave and live with the change. At the same time, of course, you have to make things and choices that look like your own brand. Leino says.
If the image is not visible, you can view it from here.
One of the most famous Finnish men’s fashion brands, Frenn, also believes in the future.
– We will not give up. We offer our customers products and services that they need and want to use. We make the right clothes for the right people. All companies have certainly had challenges in recent years, but we move forward with a positive attitude. The company is developed and grown sustainably one piece at a time, comments Jarkko Kalliothe company’s CEO and co-founder.
Alpa’s Lauri Hilliaho also predicts a bright future for the field of Finnish fashion.
– We believe that many Finnish brands have a great future ahead of them and there is a lot of open-minded things to do in the industry. It would be important for us to bring brands to Finland, whose wings can also be used in international competition, comments Hilliaho.
If the image is not visible, you can view it from here.
Ville Leino would call for more export cooperation between fashion brands.
– The Finnish fashion industry could cooperate more in export efforts, for example. Pitti Uomo and other international trade fairs and events in cooperation could, for example, be a good solution, he thinks.
Responsibility in the fashion industry
In the opinion of many domestic fashion brands, responsibility in the fashion industry is particularly important and it is at the center of most Finnish brands.
– Responsibility against fast fashion is important to us. In the future, we will make durable color shades from durable materials from season to season. We have also moved production closer to Europe and Eurasia, where we are better able to monitor production and quality. At the same time, the carbon footprint is reduced with local production, says Ville Leino.
If the image is not visible, you can view it from here.
This coming weekend, more than thirty Finnish fashion and design brands will celebrate the responsibility of domestic brands by organizing a shopping campaign. Promotional benefits will be published on Thursday On the Finn Fashion Friday page and they are valid from Friday to Sunday.