Teemu Muurimäki – Exhibition on English

Teemu Muurimäki spent his school years in Pori, got the inspiration to work on garments from his seamstress mother, trained as a designer at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, ventured out to work in the great fashion houses and returned to Finland to create a career as one of the top designers of the country. Now it is time to review the fashion filled quarter of a century.

”Fashion is my passion and a dear hobby that became my profession.”

Muurimäki has designed wedding and evening wear fashion for international fashion houses of Paris and Milan as well as for numerous guests of the Presidential Independence Day Reception and other galas back home in Finland. Many have come across Muurimäki’s fashion at Savonlinna Opera Festival or the UMK Song Contest. All of the pieces reflect his passion and love for creating garments.

”It is breathtaking to look back at my career and realise what a long journey I made from Pori to the fashion houses of the world. I made my breakthrough as a designer in the University of Art and Design fashion show with a striped silk organza gown that has a back adorned with seagull feathers I had collected from Yyteri beach.”

The pieces designed by Teemu Muurimäki are both contemporary and a part of our cultural history. For this exhibition Muurimäki has chosen a segment of the multitude of pieces that have left a mark on not only him and the wearers of those pieces, but also numerous TV viewers and fashion magazine readers.

”I consider myself a versatile designer. I think it is because I have worked for fashion houses with very distinctive styles, so I have had to learn to adapt as a designer.”

Teemu Muurimäki discovered his place within the international fashion houses at the age of 28 in 2003. Cymbeline Paris, Giorgio Armani, Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana and Bianca Spender / Carla Zampatti included in their catalogues creations by the designer from Pori. Muurimäki kept himself busy by designing wedding gowns, evening gowns, showpieces and collections for the fashion industry.

”I was so eager to see and experience the world. As you know, Finland is not Paris nor New York nor London, so the possibilities within fashion are quite limited here. As a young designer it was essential to get to try my wings.”

Muurimäki adopted the styles of the brands and developed his versatility as a designer. He was especially impressed by the demure elegance and proud craftsmanship of Italian fashion. The years abroad developed Muurimäki’s vision and technical skills, but 10 years in Paris, Milan and Sydney fueled his yearning for entrepreneurship. The love of fashion brought Muurimäki back home to Finland, where he could express his designer heart to the fullest.

“The actual creative work, the ingenuous love for making a garment, began to lose its spark at some point. I realised I have to start listening to myself. In the fashion business the creative work is steered by commercialism to such an extent that over time I felt that the love I had felt for designing was dwindling. That is exactly why I returned to Finland – to be able to choose diverse projects that truly inspire me.”

”When I worked in Sydney I asked myself if I was happy working as a part of the fashion machine, running on a treadmill, producing a collection after another. I missed diversity and relevance in my work. It dawned on me that returning to Finland would be my chance to become an independent designer.”

Pining for home and willing to work as a freelancer, Teemu Muurimäki returned to his native country in 2012.

In Finland he started collaboration with Marimekko by designing a collection of unique gowns for the Unikko print 50th anniversary collection. As the head designer of the traditional suit manufacturer Turo, Muurimäki seized the opportunity to create men’s apparel.

During the Sydney years an idea of a menswear collection had emerged. Muurimäki wanted to design the kind of clothes he would like to wear himself. That was the beginning of the Formal Friday collection for men and a startup by the same name, with four business partners. The first collection was launched in 2015.

Muurimäki’s designer career has been extensive and versatile. The average Finn may best know him as the designer of the stunning festive gowns seen at the Presidential Independence Day Reception, but he is also a trusted costume designer for fashion, theatre, events and entertainment. His handprint is a staple in the imaginative and iconic costumes for the artists in UMK or the Finnish Eurovision Selection Event, and the Eurovision Song Contest.

In addition to fashion Muurimäki has designed theatre, modern dance and opera costumes for Tero Saarinen Company, Svenska Teatern and Savonlinna Opera Festival, jewellery for Aarikka and product design for SuomiAreena.

”A costume is an essential part of a stage show, and plays an important role in creating the atmosphere of the performance. All the visual elements must consistently tell the story in the song.”

”I love designing costumes, because I get to create a different world with no commercial restrictions that limit ready-to-wear designs. In costumes, you don’t have boundaries for choosing elements, they can be modern or emerge from the history of the garment.”

”The Presidential Independence Day Reception is the most dignified ceremonial ball in Finland, and the finest way to honor the occasion is to wear a dignified attire, of Finnish design, obviously.”

The Presidential Independence Day Reception on the Finnish Independence Day, December 6, is guaranteed to gather Finns in front of their TVs. The televised ball is repeatedly the most watched TV programme of the year, letting the viewers lay their eyes on guests and comment on their glamorous outfits as they stand in line to wait for their turn to greet the presidential couple.

The first evening gown designed by Teemu Muurimäki was seen at the Independence Day Reception in 2000. His career as the favorite independence day gown designer genuinely took off in 2002 with the gown he designed for Vanessa Forsman. By 2024 nearly 80 Muurimäki creations have been seen in the independence day celebrations.

There are annually about ten new independence day reception gowns designed by Muurimäki. Considering the short timeline for design and tailoring of the dresses – the invitation to the Independence Day Reception normally drops in the mailbox in mid-November – justifiably limits the number of orders that may be accepted. There is no template for bespoke gowns, but each order must be founded on the individual client’s preferences.

”The clients’ personalities inspire me, and I like to think that the gowns I design look like their wearer, not like their designer. Despite that many do recognize my stylistic fingerprint.”

”The variety of bespoke pieces is obviously also intentional. You will want to wear a unique, distinctive dress to the ball, and it is the benefit of the client that as a designer I don’t provide another client with the same material or colour.”

A design artist will not publicise their clients. The work is based on the client’s persona, and is made privately, respecting the individual. The result is first seen in public at the reception night, on live television.

”Designing a bespoke piece is like painting a portrait. How do I see my client, and how do they want to be seen?”

Although the formal dress code for men is monotonously conservative, bespoke dresses are not only ordered by women. For Muurimäki himself, and undoubtedly also for the public, the most memorable attire so far, designed for the Independence Day Reception, was the pink version of a white tie attire for Atte Kilpinen. It was a conversation opener for the masculine dress code and for its part gave way for a more colourful Finnish dress culture.

”However, it is not intentional to cause sensation at the Independence Day Reception. In the case of Atte Kilpinen, the idea was to honour and respect the character of the event in his own personal way.”

”The best thing a designer can achieve is to inspire some sort of discussion. It is even better if my work has an effect on the identity of a young person, or sparks the enthusiasm of a beginning designer.”

”I like to think of designing a garment as telling a story.”

Teemu Muurimäki thinks each piece of clothing and design itself is a story – of the clothing brand, the theatrical performance or the wearer of the dress. Designing is shaping a fabric, craftsmanship and storytelling, drawing a portrait and creating an atmosphere. The source of inspiration for creativity is often the fabric, and as soon as the material has been chosen, the journey towards the finished piece may begin.

Muurimäki’s creative process is never straightforward. The baselines for the creative work define the contents of the process. When the bespoke dress is ordered by a private person, it is all about getting acquainted with their style. The starting point for creating costumes for theatrical and musical performances is understanding the gist and entity of the performance, its context, and the purpose and functionality of the costume. Policies concerning commercialism and collections add their own flavour to clothing design.

”The most important quality in a designer is innovation. The most dazzling creativity requires the courage to think outside the box you were supposed to be in.”

Muurimäki defines a successful design to be something that is unforeseen, yet feels easy and effortless. Designing a piece is a journey that lets you relish on inspiring fabrics, play with ideas, focus on solving technical problems and shaping the fabric on the client at a fitting – until the story is finished.