Artist Helmi Hagelin breaks norms, questions the sustainability of the textile industry and looks at the world from the position of a minority of a minority
Artist and clothing designer Helmi Hagelin strives to participate in the social debate with his work. He is participating in the Y-festival organized by the Ministry of Justice on Saturday in Helsinki.
Hagelin is not only a clothing designer, but also an artist. With his work, he wants to stimulate discussion, make you think.
– I do my work from the perspective of a queer Sámi, and they often deal with the minority status of a minority, Hagelin says.
Hagelin describes that his work often violates society’s norms, such as the gender binary, and subconscious thoughts and repetitive structures often come to the fore.
Helmi Hagelin’s visual art is included in the Y-festival organized by the Ministry of Justice on Saturday in Helsinki. The cultural and human rights event highlights equality, a diverse future, and it is now being organized for the first time.
\”I don’t want to be part of the textile industry’s problem\”
On the mannequin, the ropes begin to take a more precise shape. Helmi Hagelin makes this garment to order, like her products in general, and she does not plan to make collections for stock.
– I don’t want to produce serial production. I don’t want to be part of the textile industry’s problem, he says.
That is why he has chosen to use, for example, leftover materials from construction sites. If there is a need for new textiles, he buys monomaterial, i.e. material containing only one raw material.
