Fatness has a strong stigma in the fashion industry, says designer Henna Lampinen. She wants to challenge existing beauty norms with her fashion designs and make space for bigger bodies in society.
“In primary school, I used to think that making something by hand wasn’t my thing. I became interested in fashion in lower secondary school. I wanted to start making my own clothes, so I signed up for a sewing class at the local adult education centre. That’s where I got the vision to become a dressmaker. While studying, something changed: I wanted to start making clothes for others instead of myself. Fashion design started to seem like an interesting choice.
After a couple of gap years and some initial studies at the Häme University of Applied Sciences, I was accepted into Aalto University. I graduated with a Master of Arts degree last JuThe most pivotal moment of my career so far was winning the main prize of Designer’s Nest, a Nordic fashion contest, in 2019. The award brought a lot of opportunities, and my collection was presented in London and Copenhagen. I traveled around Europe for a year.
In autumn 2023, I won the Young Designer of the Year competition in Finland. My winning collection was presented in size 54. It addressed fatness and body shame and was mostly made of recycled materials.
I’m in the middle of an interesting time as I’ll be launching my own brand after the summer. My products are made for plus sizes and differ from the garments currently available for fat people. The clothes under my brand typically show the body and are made of high-quality deadstock materials.
Fashion designers have an enormous responsibility in promoting equality. Through the garments we design, we can have a concrete impact on how people look and how they’re seen in society. The role of designers making garments for marginalised bodies gains importanceI want to use my work to promote fat activism and challenge beauty standards and norms. There is a great need for this as fatness has a strong stigma in the fashion field. I try to make space for fat people as they are, so instead of feeling anxious, they can enjoy the clothes they wear and express themselves. It’s easy to say this, but in reality, it’s harder because of the enormous pressure to conform to a certain look.
Some years ago, the fashion industry was shaken up by body diversity. Now that trend is slowing down, and fashion week runways are once again featuring fewer diverse people and more skinny models in size 36.
Advancing inclusivity has largely been left to the efforts of young up-and-coming designers. Several interesting brands in London use models in a way that promotes visibility for different kinds of bodies. For example, Chopova Lowena and Sinéad O’Dwyer predominantly use mid-size and plus-size models in their shows. In places with the most wealth, there is often the least change; in Paris, traditional body norms are the strongest.
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It’s infuriating when body inclusivity is just an added-on feature. People see it as a buzzword to jump on to get good campaigns, but there is no actual work done, such as adding different sizes to collections.
I can add my own perspective through the clothes I design, but there’s a whole system outside the sphere of an individual designer. We discuss equality in the fashion industry from a Western perspective while overlooking distressing conditions elsewhere in the world.
On the other hand, everyone just does what they can. It’s essential to aim for the better. Many things should be radically changed in the field – the entire concept of fashion, in fact – to reach equality. We’ve become accustomed to thinking that if fashion is accessible to everyone it’s no longer fashion – so can we ever even reach true equality?
The Finimalism project’s guiding principle, more with less, grasps well the idea of how the field should change: we should shift from consumption to expanding the concept of fashion in a way that isn’t only about money. Aiming at constant growth will always lead to consumption. Could fashion be decoupled from capitalism? I don’t know how it would happen, or if anyone does.
While the fat rebellion is the main idea guiding my work, I don’t undermine the significance of sustainability. If it weren’t important to me, my next collection would already be much closer to the finish line. Considering sustainable solutions and sourcing responsible materials takes time – especially for a recent graduate who still doesn’t have many contacts.
I’m making more pieces for my brand than what I’m used to so far. My student collections were always composed of single pieces. Now I need to pay much more attention to material procurement and their sustainability. It’s not enough to find material for a single outfit, and I don’t have endless time to modify materials.
The choices I make as a designer also have societal impact: how I work and what kinds of people I highlight. I often ask myself: if no-one else is doing this, why wouldn’t I?
Henna Lampinen is a 32-year-old fashion designer who graduated from Aalto University's Master’s programme in Fashion Design. She was named Young Designer of the Year in 2023 and won the Designer’s Nest 2019 competition. She specialises in designing clothing for plus-size bodies.
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