Happy news for children and parents: Reima’s children’s clothing is now decorated with patterns by top Finnish designer Klaus Haapaniemi. Other brands are also excited about the collaboration between fashion and interior design.
Kurahaalari is perhaps one of the most important pieces of clothing a parent can get for their child. Such casual clothing, despite the crap, can be surprisingly beautiful. This is proved by the Finnish brand Reima and the designer Klaus Haapaniemen a new collaborative collection called Meadow. The collection includes both outer and inner clothing for children in different seasons.
– Reima hoped to cooperate with us. For our part, we were interested in their technical know-how, responsible and innovative materials development, and what the collaboration could create. We think the end result was really good, Haapaniemi says.
The patterns and illustrations designed by Haapaniemi are familiar to the general public, especially from Iittala’s tableware. Reima’s collection strongly shows Haapaniemi’s familiar handprint. The meadow collection also has interesting details about nature, such as plants, insects, birds and animals.
Klaus Haapaniemi & Co started its own Giants children’s clothing collection in 2018. Giants was once born from the same themes as the collaboration with Reima. The starting point was the freedom and curiosity of the children’s imagination, not forgetting responsible production.
– I have been cooperating with various fashion houses for more than 20 years, but I didn’t really go directly to the children’s collection before the Giants collection, Haapaniemi says.
Haapaniemi designs everything from furniture to ceramics, lighting and textiles.
– Components familiar from objects rarely work directly in fashion or vice versa. Functionality is affected by, for example, materials and color associations.
Of course, there are also exceptions in Haapaniemi’s own collection: the same patterns can be seen in woven blankets on the home side and in scarves on the fashion side. Some of the floral patterns are so detailed and abundant that, according to Haapaniemi, they work better in clothing.
Haapaniemi wants to create durable, timeless patterns and color combinations for interior design products. According to the designer, on the interior side, the subject worlds are the most universal in fashion. Clothes, in turn, are more personal to the wearer. Also for Reima’s collection, Haapaniemi’s goal was to create a personal and non-mainstream series.
– Hopefully every pattern will survive. I spend a lot of time planning them. It would be a shame if they disappeared when the clothes were sold out. In that sense, I also design timeless patterns for fashion, she says.
This is how interior and fashion merge
Klaus Haapaniemi and Reima are not the only ones who now combine fashion and products familiar from the home circle. In a recent collaboration, Finnish furniture manufacturer Hakola and knitwear brand Arela have released a home clothing series called Roommates. The luxury merino and cashmere wool clothes in the collection show the familiar colors and design language of Hakola’s furniture. These clothes make it easy to slip into the interior and look good even at home.
The Finnish Finlayson, known for its home textiles, also joined the fashion business in 2021, when they published a clothing collection called Arkismi. In the collection, Finlayson’s beloved patterns have been brought into the hands of fashion designer Tiia Vanhatapio into multi-purpose clothes that are suitable for everyday life and work. The familiar Armas, Kumpula and Pesue patterns, for example, can be seen in the clothes for the coming spring and summer.