Finnish designer Jenny Hytönen considers her recent experiences to be nothing short of a gift from the stars. She gained recognition for her incredible work after winning the Grand Prize Première Vision at the Hyères International Festival for Fashion Photography and Accessories. Her talent and hard work later led to her appointment as a guest designer at AZ Factory. However, with these new accolades come new responsibilities. As a young designer, Hytönen prefers expressing herself through her designs rather than words. Her collections are a reflection of her artistic vision and are filled with compelling stories that explore societal issues such as power structures and women’s representations in society.
Can you introduce yourself?
I’m Jenny Hytönen, a Finnish artist and designer based in Paris. I was born and raised in Finland. After studying fashion at Aalto University in Helsinki, I moved to Paris for work. In 2022, I won the Grand Prix du Jury Première Vision award at the Hyères Festival and my life has not been the same since. Now I have my own brand and I am working with other companies as well. I am currently working on a Couture project with AZ Factory that is coming out in January 2024. My interest lies in human nature as well as the body and its somatosensory sensibilities. My most known work, Cyborg Bride (2022) – is a wedding dress that consists of a knitted veil made out of over 20,000 individually placed glass beads. The heart of the work lies underneath the veil where a circuit board is placed to detect the bride’s heartbeat and displays it with pulsating LED light.
What inspired your interest in exploring BDSM through fashion?
BDSM has always been a very sexy topic for media but there is so much more depth to it than just that. During my time in Helsinki, I studied a lot about the portrayal of grotesque female figures in our culture throughout history. I have always been interested in power structures and what is seemingly acceptable behaviour for a woman and what is not. My work is all about creating powerful silhouettes that demand space and respect for the wearer.
Being a fashion designer can be challenging as you encounter various pressures from different aspects of the industry. What is currently challenging you?
I definitely feel the pressure as a fashion designer. There are always a lot of ideas running through my mind, are they all worth bringing to life? Designing is a never-ending process, and I am a strong believer in cultivating ideas to make them stronger throughout the creative process. I often feel like the ideas I have to abandon are somehow still raw. The world is full of numerous ideas, so I hope this industry will prioritize quality over quantity, particularly in terms of innovation. My current struggle is in this area and I would love to have more “play time” to explore all my ideas.
The creative process is a deeply fulfilling experience for me. It almost feels like I am creating the future.
Jenny Hytönen
What satisfaction do you get from creating?
I absolutely love the feeling when I get inspired by someone or something. It just blows my mind every time. There is a feeling of hope and excitement from that kind of inspiration that I love. I think getting inspired, getting ideas, and designing is like creating scenarios for the future. It is very fascinating.
Is embracing creativity a form of self-care for you?
It is very difficult to fully love and embrace yourself in an industry that basically feeds off people’s insecurities. I think I struggle with self-love, partly because of my perfectionism tendencies. Perfectionism and creativity is a challenging duo to co-exist because you cannot be too critical with every idea that comes your way. So I think embracing creativity is also embracing the incompleteness in yourself.
Can you talk about your award-winning collection “Untitled” and what inspired you to create it?
The people who know me know that I am not a person with many words. I speak through my work. But there are always a lot of stories and symbolisms behind every piece I have ever made. I often prefer not to name my collections because I view my work as a continuum and I don’t like to give them too many conclusions. My award-winning collection “Untitled” was about humans and machines. It explored the posthumanism movement where we disregard the existence of just one theory of human beings. In the near future, there will no longer be a concept of gender I believe humans will merge with technology. I have a deep fascination for human-like machines or you could say cyborgs because I often feel like we treat our bodies like machines and there is not so much love involved.
What does “Be Well” mean to you? How do you achieve this state of mind?
I am still learning about balance in my own practice. However I am a strong believer that occupational well-being should not be the responsibility of just one individual. I view mental health and wellness more as social issues that the community should take into account. It also doesn’t help that the fashion industry is very fast-paced and that it sometimes feels quite violent. I think we have a responsibility in this industry to try to build more sustainable ways to work. I think the best inventions need time to cook. After all, we are not machines.
Translated by Hala Kassem
Editor
Junjie Wang
