8 Oct 2021 – 13 March 2022

The exhibition situates at the intersection of novel politicization and digital disruption of fashion. It updates our understanding of Finnish clothing and accessory design into the 2020s, exploring the intimate relationship between the body and the clothes we wear and introducing visitors to the creative design process, from initial sketches to the finished products. The exhibition also highlights the impact of digitalization and datafication on the work of the designer as well as the mechanisms through which fashion is manufactured, distributed and consumed. The exhibition is based on extensive research on the work of the most prominent Finnish fashion designers of the 2020s and beyond, as well as that of the more anonymous designers behind contemporary work uniforms and wearable technology.

The exhibition is curated by Professor Annamari Vänskä and researchers from her research group, post-doctoral researcher Jenni Hokka and PhD-researcher Natalia Särmäkari from Aalto University. Intimacy is part of the research consortium Intimacy in Data-driven Culture (IDA), funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland. The research project explores, among other things, how intimacy functions as the driving force of creative economy, including fashion. The exhibition is also part Year of Research-Based Knowledge 2021, the theme year of Academy of Finland.