Top image: Heikki Salonen ‘Deadstock’. Courtesy Hostem

From SS10 to FW12, London buzzed with the name Heikki Salonen. After graduating from London’s Royal College of Art, the Finnish designer took home the International Talent Support Design Award and kicked off his shows via emerging designer platform Fashion East. His women’s collections were studded with standout men’s pieces that left fans wanting more… then suddenly he was gone.

Several seasons later, and ticking off experience at two major fashion houses (Diesel and an unnamed other), Heikki is reigniting his namesake line, and this time he’s really doing menswear. His comeback collection for men and women (and boys, girls, and pensioners) was realised in collaboration with East London’s Hostem, composed using archived fabrics from past collections. Aptly titled ‘Deadstock’, it’s a DIY driven re-ignition of a line with recent history, and a lot of promise.

Tempe Nakiska: So this is your first collection that officially involves menswear, why now?
Heikki Salonen: I have included men’s looks in my collections two times before, but this time it definitely felt more natural. I just wanted a range of products that will appeal to boys, girls, teens and pensioners alike. It’s all about style, and the style I feel is quite easily translatable both ways.

TN: Do you ever have a certain kind of person in mind when you design, or is it freer than that?
HS: I try to design clothes with values in mind that I respect personally, and I hope whoever wears my designs could maybe share a piece of those values, maybe just as an introduction to them. I don’t ever have muses or specific men or women in mind when designing, the greatest thing is actually to see my designs on people who I never thought would be into them.

TN: Deadstock feels quite balanced, like girls could wear the boys clothes and vice versa, was that the intention?
HS: Yes, very much! I think that was the case even when I was doing just ‘women’s’ collections. I think that might also be slightly coming from my Northern European heritage, you know we don’t even have words for he or she in Finnish language.

TN: Tracing back to your early collections you often drew inspiration from youth subcultures and the like, what things or themes inspired the Deadstock collection?
HS: Deadstock is in some sense literally dead stock, themes, fabrics, shapes, techniques and ideas from several previous seasons are merged together. It’s kind of a mash up of everything I have ever been thinking of while doing all the past collections, celebration of “the same but different”.

TN: Deadstock is quite fascinating in that you have repurposed fabrics from previous collections in its construction. Why did you do this?
HS: They were there in my studio still looking relevant and then this amazing opportunity came up with Hostem and I think it was a great match from the start. I have wanted to do that for a long time and I think the four years apart from the materials probably made me appreciate them even more.

TN: Would you say the above is in part a reaction to the in many aspects wasteful nature of our fast paced fashion industry?
HS: I’m there in the fast paced fashion industry myself through my other job. I actually really enjoy that side as well, but also there is always this kind of slow-movement idea in me. I think the contrast of these two is quite essential for my working, it creates a healthy balance and enables me to do more radical decisions towards more sustainable product for my own line.

“To me clothes don’t exist before they are worn by people, not just models.”

TN: You put your label on pause for quite some time, why did you decide to do so?
HS: I really have wanted to concentrate on making more product-focused range for long now. I think the time apart from Heikki Salonen the brand did really clarify the direction, and now with Hostem, there came this great opportunity to do something that is also very dear to me. To do a range that has sense to me and for Hostem and hopefully for their customers too. To me clothes don’t exist before they are worn by people, not just models.

TN: Are you based in London today? How would you describe it as a place to live and work as a designer?
HS: I just moved back after living four years elsewhere and basically need to find all the London things again, it’s so vibrant and fast paced that it kind of feels like starting with London rather than returning. I always draw my inspiration from people and human behaviour and don’t think there is any better place to observe all of that!

TN: What are your plans for your line next, are you working on another collection? Will you be showing at LCM in January?
HS: Yes, I’m working on the next collection already, but all the rest is still under discussions with my team. We want to make good things and are not in a hurry with that, not this time.

‘Deadstock’ by Heikki Salonen is available at Hostem, 41-43 Redchurch Street, London E2 7DJ