I met this sustainable fashion brand a few months ago. While I was organizing the shooting for my website, with Elina Maninnen (photographer), I asked her if she knew any fashion company that would be interested in participating, lending us the clothes for the styles, and she told me about Tauko.
When I went to their shop in Helsinki, I found clothes made in an impeccable way, with unique colours and timeless designs that fit perfectly!
Today Mila Moisio, one of her founders and designers, tells us a little bit more about their company.
What is Tauko?
TAUKO is a sustainable Nordic fashion house based in Helsinki, Finland.
TAUKO stands for a break or a pause in Finnish. It describes the silent and still movement that is almost impossible to notice. Our goal is to make sustainable pieces for long-lasting wardrobe.
Why have you opted for sustainable design?
We are lifelong best friends with Kaisa and since the very first steps of our friendship we learned how we share the same values, love for travels, art and environment. At the end of our university studies for becoming art researchers, we got inspired by fashion and wanted to work for something that has an immediate effect on the social and environmental problems that our time is facing. After extensive research on fashion industry and learning more and more about textiles, there was no turning back, we set out on a journey to create a fashion brand that lived up to our expectations. We wanted to show how recycled textiles can be turned into the materials of beautiful, high-quality womenswear collections where there are no compromises in design or the ethical and ecological aspects of the production.
Where do the fabrics you use for your designs come from?
Our unique TAUKO recycling concept is based on local, discarded rental textiles as the raw materials of the production. Working closely together with local producers and research groups, we constantly develop new methods to prepare recycled materials for our collections. These materials are mostly textiles that have been used in Finnish and German restaurants and hotels. In addition to discarded textiles, we also utilize surplus knits and yarns, and organic wool for our collections
The process of manufacturing a sustainable garment is not easy, at all. Tell me a little bit about it.
Our design process is very material oriented. The recycled materials set certain limitations, but also create specific tools for us to work with. The colours and cuts are formed by using these tools and therefore the collections are very much affected by the up-cycling process. Yet, without knowing, you cannot tell that our collections are made from recycled textiles. Working with recycled textiles follows the TAUKO philosophy, very powerful yet silent movement. A lot of effort is in the details and in the process that cannot be seen with a quick look. This creates a design aspect that make the TAUKO pieces a long-lasting part of the wardrobe.
What type of customers are your designs aimed at?
We are committed to creating timeless and ethical clothing for women who care about the environment as much as we do. We believe in kindness, honesty and respect.
What inspires you to create your collections?
The collections reflect our passion for contemporary art, thrive to colors and details inspired by nature.
How do you see the future of sustainable fashion?
Since founding of TAUKO, we have been focused on the development of recycled textiles for fashion. It took us five years to find the right materials and partners for our production and in 2013 we released the first collection based on the production concept that we have been developing ever since.
The scale has grown and the design has developed during the 10 years and now we are experts on what we do. We hope to take TAUKO to yet another, new level, with more research and experimentation on both, materials and design. It would be wonderful to see TAUKO in the future as one of the forerunners of sustainable fashion that has been able to convince the fashion world that there are true alternatives for fashion production.
It is important for us to share the information we have gained to transform the industry and the business to restore the environment. I think there is no other future for fashion than sustainable.
Tell me 3 reasons why people should start consuming sustainable fashion.
Respect for people, for the environment and the future.
