SOFT POWER: Icicle has launched a capsule with Paris-based Finnish designer Jenny Hytönen, the first stemming from the Chinese label’s partnership with the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories — Hyères.
Icicle’s brand president Vanessa Yao said the capsule with Hytönen and further winners of this festival, described as a “unique platform supporting creativity by young talent,” fit in with the company’s ongoing interest in new talent and desire to innovate.
From its foundation in 1997 by Ye Shouzeng and Tao Xiaoma, Icicle was intended as an eco-friendly, ethically minded option for women living professional urban lives. Natural fibers, used with their original hues or dyed with natural pigments, formed the basis for a wardrobe of quiet staples for the brand.
Tapping the company’s repertoire and know-how of natural materials was the brief given to Hytönen, who was the 2022 winner of the festival’s Grand Prize and public’s vote for fashion.
Hytönen said the combination of material and palette “created an intriguing and mysterious allure” that continues the ideas she’d been developing in her prize-winning Hyères collection.
Now available in Icicle’s two Paris flagships, the capsule shows a softer side of the knitwork that earned her the gongs at the Hyères festival but also laughter and applause when she introduced herself as “loving knitwear and BDSM.”
Priced between 390 and 990 euros, her range, inspired by the austere beauty of Nordic landscapes, includes a dress, skirt, cardigan and machine-washable bodysuit, all in soft tones of cream and beige that come from the undyed wool or cashmere they’re made of.
The 26-year-old designer graduated from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2021 with an award, and interned at Olivier Theyskens’ label with a focus on knitwear. She has since moved to Paris permanently.
Also part of Hytönen’s lot as winner of the top fashion prize at the Hyères festival was a capsule for Galeries Lafayette, released on Oct. 12 in conjunction with this year’s edition of the talent showcase.
