An image of No Logo—Naomi Klein’s treatise on the blight of global branding (and this was back in 1999)—blasted out from Tuomas Merikoski’s mood board. That the cover has assumed its own logo status was not lost on the designer, who tricked out his Aalto collection with random patches and tags, created by a Finnish art collective, which were notably positive in tone. Merikoski was applying these sorts of graphics to his clothes before other brands began experimenting with appropriation, so this wasn’t a case of jumping on the bandwagon as much as setting up a parallel reality where all identities are accepted. The collection’s title, “After Nature,” which was rendered as a New Balance homage, seemed to be open to interpretation, yet hinted that Merikoski might be leaning more towards sportswear than the thrust on suiting in previous seasons.
He attributed some the revisited ’90s references—those slip dresses and slouchy knits—to the “brutalism” movement in web design. This also explains why certain looks—a bold, irregular dress splicing a hazy plaid T-shirt top, for instance—appear like a spontaneous grunge throwback; while others, often featuring Merikoski’s now-signature ample, over-pleated jeans, were identifiable as present-day. As represented in the lookbook, the collection comes across more subversive than it is. There, the cropped cache-coeur sweaters and embroidered boleros with their angsty, post-adolescent midriffs stand out strongest. But in the showroom, a leather blouson with a lowered back, blouses hybridized like sports jerseys, and shirts with collars that buttoned up and over gave all the attitude and none of the age anxiety. A boxy denim jacket with an uneven, scalloped hem was great for all ages and encapsulated Merikoski’s objective of feminine normcore (see also, his new footwear: tough toes, dainty heels). Lastly, and for whatever reason, he decided that many of the tailored jackets should be packable—as in, an internal zipper or pouch that allows them to fold into themselves. Extraneous or ingenious? According to the laws of Aalto nature, that’s for you to decide.
