Fashion designer, cultural guest Jimi Vain loves his home region in Ostrobothnia, and he makes it known abroad as well.
During Pitti Uomo, men’s fashion week in Florence, people in the fashion industry were invited to the show with a card with a landscape printed on the cover. There, a power line cuts through a dreary field landscape in the cold light of autumn.
The landscape is from the yard of Jimi Vain’s or Jimi Särmö’s childhood home in Nurmo, South Ostrobothnia.
Särmö, 24, who grew up in Nurmo, has an extraordinary path to becoming one of the young promises of Finnish fashion. He is a self-made designer who broke through on Instagram before the corona pandemic.
– I thought it was pretty cool. Here we go to make a shoe project.
Playboi Carti was Särmö’s great idol, and it seemed incomprehensible to the person from Nurmö that the artist was specifically interested in Särmö’s shoes. The successful American rapper was already painting cooperation patterns with the Finn. He suggested that Särmö design fan products for her. The project subsequently dried up.
– I was already once with my suitcases at my brother’s place in Helsinki on my way to the United States.
However, Särmö’s sneakers became a viral hit. Their picture spread like wildfire online, and at the same time the internet showed its ugly side. Shoes designed by Särmö began to be counterfeited all over the world.
– It was interesting to watch how more and more illegal copies were made from illegal copies, says Särmö.
The hype received on the Internet increased Särmö’s self-confidence as a designer.
Tuomas Laitinen bonga Särmö
There are other ways to get into the world of fashion in Finland than through Aalto University’s fashion school. Särmö is a good example of that.
He aspired to Aalto, the entrance exams progressed nicely towards the end, but Särmö left the last assignment undone. He realized that he couldn’t create a work that looked like himself out of a piece of cloth.
Särmön continued as a designer on his own, self-made path and managed to get international attention again. The Finnish McDonald’s marketing office contacted Särmö and proposed cooperation.
Särmö was asked to design leisure outfits for the Finnish employees of the hamburger chain, which were made from the chain’s recycled work clothes. The project received 200 million views on social media at the end of 2022.
– I have always looked up to them. They know what they are doing. I have always thought that one day I will work with them, says Särmö.
That’s how it happened. Tenomaa and Laitinen are currently collaborating with the Vain clothing brand.
– I have gotten to where I wanted through chance. I once applied to Aalto because I wanted Laitisen to be a student, and now it’s like I’ve been one.
Tuomas Laitinen is currently the assistant director of fashion design at the Parsons training unit for art and design in Paris.
\”I’m dependent on the people around me\”
Friends have helped Särmö the most in advancing his career. He started limping in Helsinki already in high school, and his circle of friends expanded. The older brother had moved to the city for work, and Särmö spent the night on his brother’s couch before moving to the capital himself a year after his matriculation exams.
Relations with Seinjoki’s close circle remained despite the move to Helsinki. Särmö speaks warmly of them. They are still an important part of the designer’s inner circle. Särmö believes that friends have played a key role in what the Vain clothing brand is now.
– I am really grateful to the people around me.
According to Särmö, it has influenced the fact that he has dared to ambitiously do his own thing.
– The people around have encouraged, believed, supported and lived the same dream.
Many of Särmö’s close friends occasionally work for Vain brand. Recently, he has started to think about why the circle of friends has become so important to him.
– I’m really dependent on the people around me. I have reflected on it and wondered where it stems from?
– Roope and I work eight-hour days at the office, and on top of that we hang out with a group of friends in the evening.
Only recently has the designer tried to find a counterbalance to his busy life.
– I’ve only learned to be alone and enjoy it maybe a year ago. I’m quite a social animal, says Särmö.
\”Life takes\”
The self-taught Särmö and Vain clothing brand was presented for the first time at Pitti Uomo in Florence, Italy in January 2023. It is the world’s most significant men’s fashion event.
Fashion fairs were a significant financial risk for a small Finnish clothing brand, but the success of the McDonald’s project encouraged Vain to seize the opportunity.
– We decided to take a risk and go to the fashion weeks in Florence, says Särmö.
The event gave Vain international visibility and new contacts. The clothing brand’s next collection is to be presented at Copenhagen Fashion Week in August.
– Although I am satisfied with the collection, the situation could have been much better.
The sample pieces of the collection were mainly made in Vain’s studio, as the ones made in the factory did not make it to Pitti Uomo.
Särmö wonders if he is still too timid to sell and market his clothing brand to others. Maybe it’s because of his philosophy of life. He believes that things hold an event in life with their own weight.
Särmö trusts intuition, a person’s inner child.
– Sometimes I trust it stupidly much. I give life the freedom to take me to new points.
Raised by a normal family
Having ended up in the big world from Nurmo, Särmö still feels love for his home region.
In middle school, Särmö was convinced that he did not want to stay in South Ostrobothnia. As a talented artist, he painted pictures on his jeans and used markers on his clothes to stand out from the crowd.
Some of the students took Särmö as a trick.
– In those days, I was quite ready to speak. If I’ve been bullied, I’ve said it straight back, says Särmö.
And after all, he had two older brothers who were used to taking care of the little brother. The brothers, five and six years older, were Särmö’s idols. Mother and father were also at home.
– I grew up in a normal, loving family.
At the end of high school, the future fashion designer knew that clothes would become her profession in one way or another. The other options did not interest him.
Believing in yourself paid off. Jimi Vain is planning his next collection for fashion weeks in Denmark.
*You can discuss the topic until Monday 27.2. until 11 p.m.*
Read the previous cultural guest: Samuli Putro writes a love song in a day, but hopes and fears total delirium