The new exhibition of the Maritime Museum of Finland displays high fashion inspired by the sea and classics from over the decades

Many of the fashion creations to be displayed have been presented for the first time on international stages.

Well-known fashion brands present include Chanel, Versace, Thom Browne, Jean Paul Gaultier, Iris van Herpen, Maison Margiela, Moncler, Eilish Macintosh, Philip Treacy, Sumiko Iwakiri and the artist duo Pierre & Gilles.

Finnish designers will be represented by, among others, Anne-Mari Pahkala, currently chief designer at Samuji, whose contribution to the exhibition is an evening dress made of plastic waste, and Idaliina Friman, young designer of the year 2021, whose collection to be displayed is inspired by the situation of the Baltic Sea and by traditional sailor clothing. 

”The selected outfits represent haute couture, handicraft, and they also stun with their materials. They contain e.g. amber and fish collagen, and for example Charlotte McCurdy’s raincoat made of algae-based plastic binds carbon from the atmosphere and is carbon-negative,” Head of Exhibitions Minerva Keltanen from the National Museum of Finland says. New technologies are merged with traditional craftsmanship also by Iris van Herpen, who draws her motifs from sea nature.

The exhibition also features numerous accessories, such as the evening bag made of salmon skin by Finnish company Lovia, or Chanel’s high heel shoes with a sailor look.

The sailor look remains in fashion

The time perspective of the exhibition stretches back more than a hundred years.

The sea-inspired boom in children’s clothing started from England in 1846, when the four-year old Prince Edward was portrayed wearing an outfit mimicking the uniform of a royal yacht crew. The fashion trend launched by the picture lasted for a century also in Finland. The exhibition features a sailor dress once worn by the daughter of Jean Sibelius. Just as today, the masses copied celebrity fashion.

“Maritime fashion represents nostalgia and is a sign of an able and healthy person. On the other hand, sailors have also been presented as vicious and hypermasculine fantasies, as in the worlds of the artist duo Pierre & Gilles or Tom of Finland,” Curator Erik Tirkkonen from the National Museum of Finland says.

Originally part of the French Navy uniform, the blue and white striped shirt has been seen on artists like Andy Warhol or Picasso. The striped shirts of the exhibition are designs by Orcival, Marimekko and Jean Paul Gaultier, who has confessed to have been completely addicted to his stripes from an early age. Coco Chanel in turn established maritime fashion in her shows already in the 1930s.

Fashion trends reached Finland at the end of the 19th century predominantly from Paris. Fashion magazines featured the latest styles, and salons manufactured elite clothes that ended up being worn by ordinary people and, finally, in everyday use.

In addition to outfits created by fashion designers, the exhibition features iconic sailor clothing from the dress and textile collections of the National Museum of Finland, which are among the most significant in Finland. One of items to be presented is a stick sweater woven almost a century ago by Sofia Björnholm from Hailuoto, a piece of traditional knitwear, based on which the first knitting pattern for the shirt model were created. The tradition related to Hailuoto sweaters can also be found in the National Inventory of Living Heritage.

The exhibition is based on the similarly named one by the Maritime Museum of Denmark (Museet for Søfart) that set a new visitor record. It has been heavily modified for Kotka based on the collections, loans and acquisitions of the National Museum of Finland. The Maritime Museum of Finland is the exhibition’s first place of visit. From Kotka, the material will be taken to Gothenburg.

The exhibition will be guided on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 25 June and 10 August at 12:00–12.30 pm, and the guidance is included in the entrance fee.