Kristiina Hansen-Haug, textile designer

‘Working with textiles is a precise and technical task. Combining functionality and visuality interests me.

I went to an upper secondary school specialised in art and knew from a young age that I wanted to work with art – pottery was my favourite and Aalto was the only place where you could study that at university level.

Initially, I applied for studies of ceramics and glass art at Aalto in 2011. At some point I noticed that I was finding my minor subject, textile design, more and more interesting, and for my Master’s level studies, I applied to study that as my main subject. I am interested in colours, materials and the structures of fabrics. I am fond of weaving and other handicraft.

At Aalto, the teachers create opportunities that can benefit the students in working life. The group sizes are quite small, and the teacher can see what a specific student is good at. When the teachers hear about places offering traineeships, for example, they pass the information on to students who might be suitable. Aalto’s strength is the cooperation with businesses and attractive workplaces in the field.

Many Aalto students find work within famous fashion houses, but fashion is just one part of the education offered by Aalto. I am interested in functional clothing and outdoor clothing.

For example, Hennes & Mauritz arranged a pattern design competition for Aalto students in 2016, where the task was to select a target group and design six different fabrics. I was selected as one of the three winners with my pattern for men’s outdoor clothes. The prize was a traineeship at the design department for men’s clothing at the H&M headquarters in Stockholm in the spring of 2017.

After my time in Stockholm, I returned to Finland for the summer and applied for another traineeship at Adidas. In September 2017, I moved to Erlangen in Germany for a couple of years. Erlangen is close to the headquarters of Adidas. I spent my traineeship there designing colours and materials for Adidas shoes. While being there, I became very interested in shoes, which is also the topic of the Master’s thesis I am currently working on.

I have noticed that people use more and more technical shoes and sports shoes also outside sports. I am interested in finding out which materials provide a functional and durable but also aesthetic shoe. I feel that my studies have taught me a lot of working life skills and a lot about the technical and practical side of design. I now live in Munich in Germany and work as a designer for Ortovox, a mountainwear brand.‘