Introducing the Ticket collection by Named Clothing

Hailing from Finland, Named Clothing is an indie pattern company who blur the line between pattern making and high fashion. Rather than releasing patterns one or two at a time, they put out seasonal collections, with gorgeous look books like high-end fashion magazines. We caught up with Saara and Laura to learn more about their latest collection – Ticket.

Hi Laura and Saara! We’re so happy to have you on board to sponsor Indie Pattern Month! First up, tell us all a bit about your designs.  How would you describe your style/aesthetic?

I would say that our designs are on-style but timeless, plain and simple but still with some nice details. We usually focus on achieving a nice shape and silhouette, and an interesting cut, rather than frosting the styles with plenty of details – this way there’s room for everyone to personalize the garments with unique fabric choices and other details.

Most designers only put out one pattern at a time. We love that you put out entire collections at once! Why did you choose to release your patterns as collections?

We want to be something in between a fashion label and an indie pattern label – it’s nice to create harmonic and complete collections with garments that work well together, as well as separately. For us it’s just more fun to create larger collections around a special theme rather than just separate garments. Creating themed collections is also great because we can make very different styles and basically renew our brand every six months, without being too much of a circus.

You’ve recently launched a new collection. We’d love to hear a bit more about it! What was the inspiration for your collection?

Since we started Named, we haven’t had time to travel much… or at all, actually. So this collection was meant to be like an imaginary trip around the world. Initially the inspiration was to research different countries and their cultures and nature, all over the world, and take inspiration from there.

As a result the collection became a combination of all this, but it’s actually kind of naive and even stereotypical, with humorous references to tourism and how ridiculous it can be – like how by visiting a country as a tourist you often fail to see the bigger picture and only stick to the things that are obvious. For example, the Asaka kimono was inspired by a traditional Japanese kimono – the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Japanese apparel. Or the Lourdes Jacket, that was our version of a classic Chanel jacket. Keana blouse is actually our interpretation of a ’Hawaiian shirt’, and Alexandria shorts are the equivalent for those beige safari shorts, both garments that are often thought to be worn by tourists (seriously, just google ’tourist’). That’s why we also wanted to style the garments with socks in sandals, haha! It was especially fun to design this collection because we didn’t want to get too serious with the theme, but actually just have fun with it!

Keana Piped Blouse by Named

 

You make such gorgeous look books for your collections. Can you tell us the story behind your latest look book?

First of all, there’s of course always a fantastic photo shoot team behind the photos, from a great photographer to the hair and make-up stylist and the model, so we have to thank them for a lot 🙂

The Ticket look book had to be fun, colorful and a bit humoristic but still pretty. We also wanted to highlight the exotic travel theme by taking some of the photos in a ’jungle’, a botanical garden called Gardenia in Helsinki. As a contrast to the wild and green garden, we wanted some soft pink. The purpose of the look book (like any look book) was to convey the feeling of this collection, and we think that the result represents the Ticket collection pretty well!

Asaka kimono and Beverly twisted bikini by Named

 

How did you choose the colours for the product photos and look book?

We pay lots of attention to the color and fabric choices, to create an interesting and harmonic combination of colors and textures. This time we wanted the collection to be pastel, since that’s something we haven’t done with Named yet (And pastels are just so lovely and so trendy this summer!). The exotic prints with feathers and oriental patterns were a must for a collection like this, too. It can be very time-consuming to find the right fabrics for a collection, and we have to make compromises every time.

What’s your favourite piece from your new collection?

We both love the Asaka kimono and Alexandria pants (among other things). The pants are very classic and relaxed, but kind of special with the curved front pockets and the pleats, and I can see them in so many different versions, from fancy satin trousers to more sporty jersey pants. The Asaka is also gorgeous, and for that style you can really choose a nice, luxurious fabric with an extravagant floral or oriental print!

Alexandria peg trousers by Named

What’s your favourite part of releasing a new collection of patterns?

We love to design, make patterns, sew, plan the photoshoot and basically nearly every part of the process! It’s very stressful too, and at some point when the release date is getting closer and closer, you get this doubt that the collection is actually awful and no-one is going to want it. But that’s just something that you have to bear, and eventually releasing the collection is always rewarding despite all the stress and the doubts. I guess that the best part is to see that people like what we have designed, and even better to see how people make beautiful and so
different variations of our styles in different fabrics and details! That’s something one cannot experience when designing ready-to wear.

Thanks so much for telling us the story behind Ticket – such a fun concept! (If I had to pick my favourite from the latest collection, I think it would be the Augusta Hoodie – I love that design so much!)

Thanks also for the sneak peek into your work room, with the gorgeous photos by Liisa Salonen. 🙂