Named Clothing

Meet Saara and Laura, the talented designers behind Named Clothing. 

In September 2012, we were on a bus one day and discussed what we would do if we could choose to do anything in the world as two individuals with a passion for self-made clothing. As we both studied fashion and design and worked with fashion and clothing for different companies, we decided to start a sewing pattern business on a whim. From that moment, we started developing the company.

About our name: Named Clothing

We were tossing around ideas about the name and didn't like any of them too much. But we had to send the registration papers over and one of us decided: “okay, let it be unnamed then”. To which the other replied “how about Named”. We thought about it for a moment, and then it started to sound pretty good. So that’s where the name came from.

About our values

As a small business of two sisters, we really value sustainable and timeless designs. We like to create classic yet exciting and unique designs that can always be worn, regardless of what’s trending at the moment. We are also very focused on sustainability within our business, ensuring we are a climate-positive company. One of our primary goals is to reduce our carbon emissions as we work with On a Mission. This non-profit organisation allows businesses to invest in projects that can reduce their carbon emissions. Although we are a tiny company with quite a low footprint, we still calculate our carbon emissions to see where there is room to reduce our carbon emissions. In addition to recycling and reusing most of our packaging material, making our own clothes also benefits the environment since we don’t sew a million pieces yearly and hoard many fabrics and materials. 

The inspiration and process behind the designs 

A lot of our inspiration comes from different places. Usually, we are inspired by something interesting we see or something that can be influenced at that moment in some area. For example, we were visiting Berlin’s Natural History Museum a few years ago and stumbled across a geology section with tons of different kinds of rocks. After admiring these unique and fascinating rocks, we were inspired to create something with them, which led to the theme behind our Fall and Winter 2017 Earth Science collection! 

The Earth Science collection includes the following designs: Gemma, Stella, Gaia, Agate, Beryl, Tierra, Ruri, Amber. 

We also like to do some trend research during the design process, but we don’t want to be too stuck and focused on trends. Trends are often changing and we want our collections to be more timeless. 

When coming up with ideas, we start with research. This research could be around the theme, so if the theme were geology, we would search for ideas in that area and then start drawing sketches, shapes, and anything that seems interesting. We then develop these ideas in the clothes. Usually, we start this process by ourselves, show each other our sketches, and then start developing ideas from there because we can pick which of each other’s ideas we like. Of course, we also think about what kind of garments we need in the collection, so we don’t always design the same things. We also consider what kinds of things sell well, such as dresses and shirts, that we typically design at least a couple of because they tend to sell. 

Behind the scenes of being pattern designers 

Favourite part: We enjoy this job's freedom and the ability to make our own schedule! The tasks, pattern making and designing, are also inspiring and creative. 

The hardest part: Starting a business was overwhelming and challenging. There was so much to learn. We had to handle many aspects of running a business that we were not entirely familiar with since these things were outside our expertise. Nonetheless, we took one thing at a time and developed along with our business, constantly learning new skills, even to this day! 

There is also so much to do daily and many different things you must be good enough at to run the business properly. Even though this business launched in 2013, we still learn and develop new skills constantly! 

Favourite design

Saara: The Kielo wrap dress is our best seller. I really like the style as well. It's creative and while not unusual, it is also not a basic dress pattern. 

Laura: I like our SS 17 collection playground. That was my favourite.

The Playground collection includes the following designs: Reeta, Helga, Anneli, Maisa, Ronja, Ansa, Minttu.

Favourite fabric stores and designers

Stores:

• Lebenskleidung, from Germany. They sell eco-friendly textiles. It's really nice. 
• In Finland, Materials has really high quality fabrics. It's a really small store. 
• Inkuri, also in Finland, has vintage fabrics from the 1990s. You can find some treasures there.

Designers: I really like Papercut Patterns.

Looking to the future 

Lately, we have spent a couple of years updating and improving many aspects of our business, including our website, packaging, patterns, and sizing. A lot of our time was spent on maintenance work. Now that it is all out of the way, we’re very excited to return to our roots of designing two collections each year for our lovely customers!

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Thank you Saara and Laura for taking the time to chat with us about running Named Clothing.