The Disainiöö, or Tallinn Design Festival, took place this year from the 12th to the 18th of September, bringing together professionals from the worlds of design, fashion, music and the business world to take part in workshops, exhibitions and events. And this year, So Catchy! Where Fashion Begins was there so today we’re bringing you some of the designers from around the city who were involved.
LJUBOV KEDRINA
The first designer on our list is a jewelry design student, Ljubov Kedrina, who makes minimalist pieces in silver, whose clear and simple shapes are examples of the old saying, “less is more”. You can find more of her captivating and inspiring work on Instagram.
BIRGIT SKOLIMOWSKI
In the same vein of minimalist jewelry, our next designer is Birgit Skolimowski, who has been working in the field for more than 10 years, and is the author of these eclectic designs with a clear and irresistible touch of the Baltics. This time around, she presented her Puzzlecollection, with individual pieces that can be combined to create a different one.
MARIA KAHNWAILER
The surprise of the week of design comes from the Valencian illustrator and designer, based in Tallinn, Maria Kahnwwailer. She studied Fine Arts in Valencia, and nowadays is a student in jewelry design at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her creations are full of color and fantasy, and influenced by three cultures. In her latest collection, “Token of Colours”, she offers a unisex collection multifunction broaches with triangular, circular and square shapes, based on the Kandinsky’s theory of corresponding colors and shapes.
TIIU NIINEMETS
On to footwear and Tiiu Niinemets, who offers three pairs of shoes that describe the idiosyncrasies of Estonia and its culture by playing with classic themes. Tiiu studied at the Tartu Art College, specializing in leather design and his work is difficult to find online. His collection consists of three models impregnated with the designer’s ideas about tradition and the avant-garde, using different production techniques. The first piece is based on the patterns found on birch trees, made with vegetable-tanned leather and manually produced. The second is inspired by the Muhu, ballet shoes dotted with black and white flowers. And, finally, the model you can see in the picture above, is inspired in the leather shoes made by Finnish country folk from bull leather.
MARE KELPMAN
In the world fabric design, there’s Mare Kelpman who started working in 2010, juggling her day job as a teacher with her work as an artist, going on to win various awards in Estonia and Japan. From her workshop / studio, located in one of the more popular hotspots in Tallinn and centers of creativity, the Telliskivi Creative City, her mission is to create high-quality textiles with designs and products for interior design using natural materials and combining innovative production techniques, such as laser cutting and more traditional ones. The quality of the product is what matters to Mare and this is why her collections are small and unique, and produced with the help of European artisans.
GERDA RETTER
And last but not least, we’d like to make special mention of a designer who has built a collection of coats and bags centered on leather and other textiles. She also studied at the Tartu Art College, specializing in leather design, and her zero-waste production process results in pieces that can be assembled to avoid throwing anything away.
There were activities, catwalks and more throughout the week and Tallinn feted its leading creatives in a celebration open to all inhabitants, to promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge. Leading by example seems to be just one of the rewarding values of this great country.
Translation and layout by Michael Padilla
