Autuas Ukkonen
(MA)
MEGA♥SCHÖN!
As is often the case during times of uncertainty, people turn to nostalgic symbols reminiscent of innocent childhood days. The MEGA♥︎SCHÖN! fashion doll brand aims to answer that need through fashion, friendship and fantasy. It envisions friendship as the ultimate expression of beauty, manifested through creativity in aesthetic micro-cultures. Fantasy lies at the heart of fashion, emphasizing the power of collective dreaming. The project also delves into the aesthetics of mass production and the sentimental value of commercial objects through sweet kitsch—a plate of cotton candy, serving a sugar rush when you need it most!
SPONSOR
Grant by Aalto Department of Design
ADVISOR
Katja Tukiainen
SUPERVISOR
Annamari Vänskä
(IG)
@ autuasukkonen
As is often the case during times of uncertainty, people turn to nostalgic symbols reminiscent of innocent childhood days. My design fashion doll brand, MEGA♥︎SCHÖN!, aims to fulfil that need.
MEGA♥︎SCHÖN! is about fashion, friendship, and fantasy. In other words, it’s about finding ultimate expressions of beauty within our own micro-cultures. Autuas Ukkonen has played with commercial aesthetics inspired by Hello Kitty and reflected that by using as many machines as possible and as little manual work as possible.
– I have utilised laser cutting, 3D printing, and UV printing. Although MEGA♥︎SCHÖN! is an artistic project rather than a commercial one, I wanted to emulate consumer goods’ perfect and mass-producible characteristics.
Drawing from the history of fashion dolls, Ukkonen designed three distinct characters, each representing a unique doll genre as a playful approach to inclusivity.
The MEGA♥︎SCHÖN! look draws inspiration from the Japanese gyaru subculture, the drag icon Divine and the 1960s à la John Waters, as well as Finnish media personality Johanna Tukiainen, with her fondness for Betsey Johnson babydoll dresses.
– I have emphasised creativity by designing each doll to be customizable, so you won’t feel like you’ve “ruined” the doll, but rather made it uniquely yours. Nanna Pop, the rag doll, arrives as a cut’n’sew fabric and material kit that you assemble yourself, encouraging emotional attachment through the making process, while Hunnymoon represents the modern plastic fashion doll and comes with paints so you can give her a little makeover. Sundae Teddy is styled like a paper doll, with sticker outfits and paper sheets for cutting out additional garments.
Ukkonen hopes to inspire people to embrace these kind-hearted divas and join the MEGA♥︎SCHÖN! circle. As we continue rethinking fashion in response to the climate crisis, could part of fashion expression be communicated through miniatures, as has been done in the past?
