Benetton fell in love with Paula Pääkkösi’s glass ice creams
Ice creams designed by Paula Pääkkösi, an artist working in the Nuutajärvi glass village, will decorate Benetton stores around the world this summer.
The United Colors of Benetton people had spotted Pääkkösi’s glass ice cream sculpture at a group exhibition in Venice and suggested a meeting.
– I thought I could have one meeting with Benetton,” Pääkkönen laughs.
The meeting resulted in a major collaboration agreement, with Benetton building its summer campaign around the theme of ice cream.
The ice cream sticks now designed by Pääkkönen are seen in the fashion brand’s t-shirts, bags and scarves, and in the summer of the shop window owners. Benetton has about 5,000 stores around the world.
– I think that in a way, we are united by love with blatant and bold colors. Such a sense of humor or fun that both try to give to people.
The Summer Together campaign was announced one week before Easter in Italy. At the same time, Benetton’s Milan shop opened an exhibition with nearly 30 glass ice cream sculptures.
– Those shop windows were somehow stunning, even passers -by were left to take pictures of them. It was a bit of a surreal feeling, but at the same time a super cool experience and wonderful, says Pääkkönen, who participated in the opening.
Pääkkönen remembers a memory of how he visited the Kuopio Academy of Design during a class trip in Milan.
– I remember I’ve been on the roof of the Milan Cathedral, Duomo, when I get a roof tour. As a small design student, I didn’t think that soon there would be an exhibition on the side of Duomo.
Ice cream sticks have been on Pääkkönen’s journey for years. The work series began to take shape in 2017, when a glass school taught a technology where many color ranges are connected.
-From the technology, I got the idea that I would like to make Twister ice cream because it has different colored stripes.
Pääkkönen started practicing stick ice cream, such as how the stick is attached to the ice cream itself.
– The ice creams went on to live their own lives and I got to the exhibitions with them. They became a series of work, which has enabled entrepreneurship in the field that is not easy for everyone to succeed, says Pääkkönen.
Making Twister has still not been successful because it is so difficult.
Pääkkönen has studied glass in Finland and abroad. Today, he works in the Nuutajärvi Glass Village in Urjala and is a member of a glass company maintained by glass blowers and artists.
Benetton has previously collaborated with young artists and provided them with international visibility. Pääkkönen is the first Finn with whom Benetton has implemented such a large project.
The 35-year-old Pääkkönen does not tell the monetary value of the cooperation agreement, but believes that it is of great benefit to his career.
– However, I think I’m a pretty young artist for this kind of cooperation. I believe that this gives you a lot of visibility and benefit in your career. I would also wish that the whole glass industry and glass blowing will have a lot of visibility through this.