Presenting: The Modern-day Finnish It-girls
The It-girl is most often a stylish woman who has changed the culture by doing her own thing.
A historical example of the all-time It-girl would be Marilyn Monroe herself. Regardless of who the It-girl is to you since every scene has its own It-girls, she is someone with an iconic look and a signature style.
In a street fashion world, we could say that for example Bella Hadid and Emma Chamberlain are the modern-day It-girls. With iconic personal styles they are the trendsetters in women’s street fashion all over the world. From Adidas Sambas to all the other recent micro-trends, you have seen Bella Hadid leading them way before they are sold out everywhere.
We wanted to interview three girls who in Finland have a similar It-girl status and they are nation widely followed and looked up to, which is making and impact to the culture and street styles of Finnish women. All of them have their own unique styles, but they are all trendsetters in their own way.
Joalin Loukamaa
In your own words, who are you and what do you do?
I’m Joalin, 21 years old Finnish girl, but I have been living very little time of my life in Finland. I grew up in Mexico and now I do music in Spanish as well, which is very new thing in my life. I have been dancing for my whole life and I have done hip hop-style dances for example breakdance and so on. For the last two years, after the Covid started I have been doing music. It’s going on well and I have been feeling it. I feel like I have found a thing that I have been subconsciously looking for my whole life. I’m very creative person and trough music I’m able to express myself in many ways like making the songs, doing the album covers and so on. I feel like now that I’m an artist I also think about what I wear a little more and I have started to dress bolder.
How would you describe your own style and the inspiration behind it?
It’s difficult for me to answer to this question. When I was living in Mexico the town, I was living in was very small. There was Forever 21 and H&M where everybody was buying their clothes from, and nobody dared to dress very special. Also, the weather was warm there so shorts and T-shirt were the stable. I never really thought so much about what I was wearing until I moved to Finland, and we started to travel around more. We went to Japan and China, and I started to see how people were dressing differently and I started to get interested about clothing a little more. Nowadays I feel like my style is very mixed. I feel like we are living in a time that there is so many different trends in the world right now, that nothing is really trending big anymore. But there is so many micro-trends and I think it’s nice because there’s many trends that I like right now, like all the 2000’s stuff coming back for example. I follow the trends but as there is so many, I find it nice that I can choose the once that I like and kind of mix them together. I like to dress a little more boyish, but there’s also days that I think that today I want to feel like a woman and then I dress in a feminine way. Most of the time though I have sneakers on, and I like low waisted baggy pants. Always when I buy hoodies, I get them in a size large because I like the oversized comfy look. I feel like my style is still work in process and I like to test and try everything.
How does it feel to be in such a position in Finland that young people see you as a role model and inspiration?
This question instantly made me smile. I think it’s lovely, because helping other people is something that makes me the happiest in life. I’m the type of person that if my friends have any problems or something on their mind that bothers them, they will come to me. I love to help people mentally and with anything else as well because that’s what makes me happy. The fact that I have a social media platform that gives me opportunity to talk with people all over the world is so cool to me. I’m happy that I can use it to do good. I get a lot of messages from young girls saying that it’s lovely that I’m some type of way or I talk about certain things, or they find me relatable which helps them some way and so on. It’s so cool to me that I can inspire people. And my whole thing in social media is that I want to be the example of the fact that everything is possible. For example, I was very scared of singing and I didn’t find my voice very special, and I never thought that it would be possible for me to sing. Now it’s my career. I want to show people that everything is possible, and I want to be able to inspire people.
What is your favorite piece of clothing or the key element of your style right now?
I have lived in Finland for so little time that it’s very difficult for me to know how to dress for the cold weather. I would say that I’m wearing one of my black hoodies for like three times in a week, but it works.
Pehmoaino
In your own words, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Aino and I’m a human who likes to do different creative things. Mainly I do music as Pehmoaino. I also like many different sound and visual things. I’m an artist.
How would you describe your own style and the inspiration behind it?
I’m 21 years old and as I have grown older, I have noticed that I’m more drawn to things, that I used to like when I was a child, like before I was a teenager. That’s what attracts me, like the things that feel safe and that I liked when I was little. Like white clothes for example. I used to like white dresses when I was a child. I have realized that those kinds of things have started to interest me again, when there is not that kind of teenager's desire to please other people. It just feels natural.
How does it feel to be in such a position in Finland that young people see you as a role model and inspiration?
It feels really nice. When I was younger myself, I also missed those kind of role models more. If you want to do things kind of differently, it’s nice that there’s somebody that you can draw inspiration from. For example, if there’s somebody who is a little older than you and you see them doing things in a certain way, you realize that you can do things as you want as well. It feels nice and it has been lovely to feel and notice that.
What is your favorite piece of clothing or the key element of your style right now?
I usually have some bag that I carry with me almost every day. I have a new bag now and that is my new favorite at the moment. My clothes are usually pieces that cost like one euro, or they are all bought second hand, because I never buy anything new. I have also few designer pieces, which are like small investments that I rarely do.
Nene Tanninen
In your own words who are you and what do you do?
I’m Nene and I have never really liked to categorize myself in anyway. I have always wanted to live my life free and try different things that come up or that are interesting to me. I have always been open to the new things. I’m in a point where I’ve done different things that have come on my way. Lately some things that I have got to try and what I have liked, have been styling as well as planning and organizing event concepts. I have also done collaborations on Instagram and TikTok and some modeling for different brands.
How would you describe your own style and the inspiration behind it?
I think my style has stayed the same for quite a long time. I do get seasonal changes when for example sometimes I like to dress more feminine and sometimes cozy, it depends on my mood. I like that my basics, for example sunglasses, bags and shoes are high quality and I build my outfit around them depending on my mood at the time. I choose a nice bag or shoes and build my outfit around that piece. My inspiration comes mostly from my close circle and also from some celebrities.
How does it feel to be in such a position in Finland that young people see you as a role model and inspiration?
I never really pay attention to it, that people would so to say look up to me, but of course when I get comments or messages like that, it makes me very happy and it’s lovely to hear that people get inspiration from me for their own stuff.
What is your favorite piece of clothing or the key element of your style right now?
Right now, I have been very into wearing different kinds of jackets and I like to style my outfits around them, so I would say that jackets are kind of like my thing at the moment.
Curated by:
Pictures from Instagram:
@bellahadid, @emmachamberlain, @_joalin, @pehmoaino & @nenetanninen