In Conversation: Tuuli Turunen on power, softness and her new collection Ain’t Nice

Describe your creative process. Where do you get your inspiration from?

I've always been really interested in the idea of taking one medium and translating it to another. How do you translate a song into clothing? That is an integral part of my process. I often think the outfits and collections form around characters; how they would interact with each other, what they would wear, how they feel and what their attitude is. That then informs everything else.

What I find interesting about art in general is that the same piece of art or a scene in a film can evoke such different emotions depending on who is watching. It’s always so interesting to see people interpret these things in their own ways. That’s very much how I operate as well.

What does your typical work day look like?

Often, I feel like my approach is very tactile. I start from an initial idea for a design and do sketches. It's often during that process that the actual idea kind of clarifies itself. The end product doesn't necessarily even resemble the initial idea.

I've also noticed that you can't just wait for the moment to come. You have to orchestrate it. To just start working on something, even if it’s small, like handstitching buttons.

What does working in London mean to you, compared to being in Finland, for example?

The sense of community in London feels very different compared to Finland. There's so much more space for different voices and different visions to come together. Of course, because when there's more people, there’s more culture too.

In a weird way I also feel like London is a very corporate seeming city; everyone is hustling all the time. While having good and bad qualities to it, that kind of atmosphere really forces you to get work done. It is ultimately very helpful, especially in this stage, when you're still building your world and getting your name out there.

Do you get inspiration from your Finnish roots or Finnish culture? Would you say that shows in your work?

I feel like there's a sense of humour in my work, like in the Finnish culture and the way of dressing. A lot of styling decisions or the kinds of pieces that I make echo the humorous way of dressing in the countryside of Finland, when you're just throwing things on.

There is an attitude of making do and working with whatever you happen to have lying around the house. Everyone is so creative in a way that everything doesn’t have to be perfect, but the outcomes are amazingly creative. And when you go around the countryside, you see the weirdest things, but it's amazing. Something that you would never think about wearing unless you just happen to have the material lying around.

Who are your role models?

Lady Gaga is a huge inspiration to me. I remember seeing her music videos and photos back in 2009. For me, it was the first time that you could see a woman purposely make herself off-putting and grotesque. That was her whole thing. Yet she was so glamorous, beautiful and respected. That really changed something in me – I saw an alternative way of being a woman where you don't have to present yourself in a certain way in order to have power.

Can you tell us a bit about your new collection?

Ain’t Nice has been simmering in my mind for a long time. It sparked from the anguish that I feel towards the state of the world and how everything seems very heavy at the moment.

I read Svetlana Alexievich’s Boys in Zinc, which is a horrific book, but an important one too. There's a kind of fatalistic atmosphere looming. It seems like everyone is heading in the same direction, as if there was no alternative. I've been trying to reignite the excitement and possibility of an alternative way for the world to move forward.

I've been looking at garments and archetypes that are often associated with, especially male, violence and aggression. There’s obviously the military uniform, the police, incels, skin heads... Reimagining the uniforms and archetypes without aggression and bringing in a sense of softness and gentleness. The 60s -70s anti-war and hippie movements is what I've been inspired by. This collection is very different to what I've done before: a lot of crazy colors and patterns. It's quite humorous even.

It’s the first collection that I've done from a political stance, and a direct response to something that is happening in the world. Whereas before, my collections have been very atmospheric or introspective. This one is very much coming from a place of wanting to say something and taking a stance. It's a bit scary, but I think it's necessary.

What's one thing you've picked up from Finnish culture that you would never give up here in the UK

The Finnish work-life balance, 100%. I've been trying to be protective of my free time, not to get sucked into the business mentality full-time. The best ideas often come from boredom so I want to preserve time by just seeing things and living life. Every time I leave the house, there's something interesting that I see and get inspired by. It's so incremental to any creative process which the Finns, I think, have mastered.