FRENN

Jarkko Kallio’s and Antti Laitinen’s menswear brand FRENN is an elegant yet playful combination of smart and casual. The brand founded in 2012 produces forward-looking menswear that wants to challenge today’s consumerism by leaving mass-production in the past, and embracing the tradition of tailoring with careful cuts and high-quality materials instead.

FRENN’s objective is to provide the urban working men with comfortable, fun but smart-looking everyday clothes that will stand the test of time. While starting the design process for the new brand, Kallio and Laitinen interviewed working-age men about their hopes for men’s fashion. Many pointed out the lack of interesting, relaxed yet work-appropriate menswear on the market.

Kallio and Laitinen have named their approach of combining tradition and twist to design “Fresh Nordic Tailoring.” The company name FRENN is an abbreviation of this, and was chosen for the brand name also for its resemblance to the word ‘friend.’ One of FRENN’s objectives is to produce pieces of clothing that can accompany their wearer for years. That is why they use materials that soften and alter as time wears on.

Kallio and Laitinen want to emphasize the meaning of eco-friendliness in their production. Ethicality is becoming more and more important to people, and “urban eco-hedonists” pose a demand for well-designed pieces they can wear with a good conscience. All the pieces are designed in Finland and manufactured in Estonia, with as eco-friendly materials as possible. Kallio and Laitinen were FCINY’s artists-in-residence in July and August 2014, researching the ideas of sustainable fashion in the City. 

Read more about FRENN's design philosophy on L'Uomo Vogue's article here. 

http://www.frenncompany.com/