For AALTO, a young fashion house created in 2015, a “non-conformist” play on clashes and contrasts comes with the territory of cultivating a creative mindset – a trend that has picked up even more steam in an era of rapidly fragmenting information, according to the Finnish brand. Its Spring-Summer 2018 collection thus pays tribute to a style that defies a wide range of obsolete dress codes: here, they clash. The originality comes across through juxtapositions of every sort. Silhouettes illuminated by fuchsia, metallic pink, and web-inspired RGB colors brighten up an otherwise neutral palette to land on a final note of optimism. At every turn, the collection celebrates femininity: shapes and forms are sculpted to mark a clear break with the oversize trend, explains AALTO. Inflated volumes accent women’s hips and shoulders through tailoring with streetwear accents alongside pleated pants – one of the young brand’s classics, reinterpreted here in a casual style. The collection’s vision of femininity also finds inspiration in the 1930s, through ample and comfortable cuts fashioned in jersey and casual satin. Finally, for this collection, AALTO sought the input of Matts Bjolin, Antti Kekki, and Taru Happonen from the Finnish collective GRMXXI to challenge commercial and traditional graphic design with a set of comical “fake” logos that occasionally ornament the garments. And that’s not all, according to AALTO: the logos also function as signs that symbolically convey a set of values. Those values promote an acceptance of difference, minorities, and diversity – a seductive blend of lightness and profundity.

Photographer: Karen Paulina Biswell

Stylist: Andrej Skok

Make-up: Tiffany Fouqueil

Talents: Tuomas Merikoski and Cyrielle L