Weekly goes to stores

The spring season of Helsinki Design Weekly’s radio programme kicks off with non-fiction author Jani Niipola. He is a journalist specialized in creative economy and related phenomena.

In the studio, Jani will look at topics – for example brand building – from a financial point of view. His brand trilogy in three episodes will browse through the history of a classic Finnish design brand and take a peek into its future.  We’ll also talk about surprising “design marriages,” referring to the importance of collaboration between designers.

In the first episode, however, we’ll visit street-level stores in Helsinki, trying to figure out what makes a perfect design shop. How does a store’s interior design help transmit the brand’s story? Our guest expert is Mia Wallenius, the creative director of Klaus Haapaniemi & Co., who has just opened a new store in Kämp Gallery.

Mia Wallenius
Mia Wallenius

“The brand lives on, always, and you cannot design it on paper. For us at Klaus Haapaniemi, it is important to maintain the possibility to ramble on,” Wallenius says. You can also expect to hear discussion about the plans to expand Design District Helsinki as well as about the most experiential concept stores.

Helsinki Design Weekly (in Finnish) on Radio Helsinki on Thursdays at 12.00 and reruns on Saturdays at 9.00. Listen to the interviews by tuning to frequency 89.7 MHz or as podcasts on the Radio Helsinki website, using a podcast app or Spotify. This programme is powered by Design Museum and Kämp Gallery.