Amorous frogs, watchmaking expertise and fashion awards

Moomin fans ahoy! Finnish trainer brand Karhu has released two Moominpappa at Sea-themed trainers. The designs nod to the book where the Moomins journey at sea and set up home in a lighthouse on a rocky island. Read more in the Moomin’s blog. (Photo: Facebook / Karhu)

Finland’s Pekka Tuuri has won two categories at the annual Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) competition. Tuuri’s amorous froggy photo All You Need Is Love walked away with the My Backyard and Behaviour awards. The event attracted over 5 000 photographs from over 500 photographers around the world. Watch UPY’s interview with Tuuri. (Photo: Pekka Tuuri / UPY 2022)

Finnish athletes have made home audiences proud at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Cross-country skier Iivo Niskanen won gold in men’s 15km classic, bronze in 15km + 15km skiathlon and, together with Joni Mäki, silver in men’s team sprint classic. In women’s 10km classic, Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski took home silver and bronze, respectively. Last but not least, the women’s ice hockey team beat Switzerland and won Olympic bronze. (Photo: Facebook / Krista Pärmänkoski Official)

Aalto University fashion graduate Boram Yoo has won the 2022 Designers’ Nest Award. Yoo’s collection explored the history of forced labour uniforms during the Korean War (1950–53) and marries them with floral themes, a tradition Koreans applied post-war to reclaim the garments from their troubled past. “Boram’s vision is rigorous, vibrant and undeniably contemporary,” said the jury. Read more on Aalto’s website. (Photo: James Cochrane / Designers’ Nest)

Big Ear heard in China. The Finnish music education startup has won second place in the Chinese Users’ Choice category at the Music China Tech+ Music Lab awards. Big Ear Games “helps the next generation’s music makers learn how music works with an intuitive app, a smart sequencer and collaborative tools”. Check the startup’s Twitter feed for more. (Photo: Big Ear Games)

Adidas has announced its first commercial product made with Finnish environmental textile company Spinnova. TERREX HS1 is a mid-layer hoodie for hikers, comprised of 75 per cent organic cotton and 25 per cent Spinnova wood-based fibres, which use no dyes or bleaches. The hoodie will go on sale in July. (Photo: Adidas)

Finnish drama Yellow Sulphur has been acquired by Spanish boutique sales company Feel Content, Variety reveals. The film, which recently premiered at the Göteborg Film Festival, tells the story of Frej, a writer forced to face long-forgotten memories. “In the end, love is the one thing that makes you remember your life,” says Finnish director-writer-producer Claes Olsson. (Photo: Solar Films / Cata Portin)

Vogue Scandinavia has interviewed Finnish watchmaker Susan Galvin about the rise of her eponymous company in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Founded in 2020 on the back of a successful Kickstarter campaign, Galvin Watch Company released its Alku collection in 2021. Galvin’s new Loimu Collection heads to Kickstarter on 5 March. (Photo: Facebook / Galvin Watch Company)

Finnish director Inka Achté’s latest documentary, Golden Land, has received a glowing review from Business Doc Europe. The documentary tells the story of Mustafe, a Finnish-Somalian man who relocates his family to Somaliland to mine copper and gold. “A gentle and warm story of a charming family trying to find the right life,” concludes the review. (Photo: Napafilms)

Papermag features Marimekko’s Fall 2022 collection, which was recently launched in Copenhagen. Working in collaboration with Danish photographer Trine Søndergaard, the collection’s theme is “new folk” and uses a neutral, cool colour palette to create garments that are “designed to be passed down from one generation to the next”. (Photo: Marimekko)

Aalto University professor Jukka Tuhkuri has set off to Antarctica aboard the Finnish-built ice-breaker S.A. Agulhas II. The ice scientist will spend seven weeks studying the effects of climate change on sea ice and the consequent change in ice loads that these ships must withstand. “The warming climate is opening up new shipping routes […] but it’s also changing sea ice and making ice conditions more difficult to predict,” he explains. Read the full story on Aalto.fi. (Photo: Daniel Enchev via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)