Finnish-American vintage brand Eveliina Vintage has taken the internet by storm, launching a new collaboration with J.Crew to make the magic of vintage more accessible. Here, the mother-and-daughters design trio tell all about beautiful deterioration, size inclusivity, and why shopping vintage is best.
I first heard of Eveliina Vintage when it popped up on my explore page on Instagram. I was instantly obsessed. Racks on racks of frothy vintage tulle and bright hand-dyed silk slips shone through my screen, and ever since, it’s been one of my favourite pages to check in on to discover a never-ending supply of delights.
So when Emilia and Amanda of Eveliina Vintage, the Finnish-American twin-cool-girls (does it get any better?) that have taken over both TikTok and Instagram, sent me a DM about an exciting new project – I was immediately intrigued.
Eveliina Vintage started in the 90s in Miami, founded by Amanda and Emilia’s mother, Eeva, who has worked with vintage in her native Finland since the 70s before moving to New York and then to Miami before the birth of Emilia and Amanda. “I mean, as a mother, there’s no better outcome than something like this, to be able to have your daughters with you and working with you,” she says with a smile.
Photo: Wiissa
Photo: Wiissa
Photo: Wiissa
Eveliina Vintage developed from a brick-and-mortar store into online only, and with the help of Emilia and Amanda, they’ve cracked the code of navigating e-commerce. “I joined Eveliina three years ago full-time. It’s been interesting to bring something so established and bring it into this day and age. It’s a lot about the everyday girl and the girls who want to shop more sustainably,” Emilia says. “It's beautifully deteriorated,” the sisters say, a term that was actually coined by their brother.
Today, they are unveiling a new collaboration with J.Crew, inspired by their grandmother and Finnish summers. After being approached by the head of women’s design at J.Crew, Olympia Gayot, the mother-daughter trio started brainstorming what pieces they wanted to include and even recreate in this capsule collection. "Seven of our favourite pieces from our personal collections. Definitely keeping in mind which dresses we’ve worn out and someone's said, ‘I love that dress, where can I get it?’ My mum even brought in a piece of fabric and was like, 'I want this print',” Amanda says with a big, proud smile.
Photo: Wiissa
The campaign was shot in an ode to the traditional Nordic architecture: the little red cabins with white details. When I was sent the campaign shots, I thought the setting looked exactly like the Swedish cabins I grew up around in the countryside. Until the sisters revealed that the campaign was actually, shockingly enough, shot in upstate New York.
"Emilia just searched ‘red cabin in New York'," Amanda says, laughing. "We did it over two days. One day was really rainy, which I think also speaks to Finnish summer, and then one day it was sunny and beautiful,” she says. The campaign video also features a poem written by Eeva's sister, Amanda and Emilia’s aunt, Riitta. “It talks a lot about the forest in the summer and the lake, and just gives you that beautiful, Scandinavian feeling"— also known as the essence of Eveliina Vintage.
Photo: Wiissa
Photo: Wiissa
One of the significant reasons behind creating the collaboration with J.Crew was to widen the vintage experience, Eeva explains. Vintage clothing is often very limited, both in terms of sizes and availability. “There's 150 of each style, and it goes up to size 24, which is so unique to us. It's so rare that you would get a vintage size 16. And if you do, it's like one here, one there,” Emilia says. “We were kind of worried that working with a bigger brand that things would get lost in translation. But I think that because of their design team, especially Olympia, she was so set on keeping our vision and the integrity of the pieces we create,” she says.
To say that the project is a family affair would be an understatement, as each piece in the collection is also named after a family member. One piece is especially inspired by their grandmother’s wedding dress. “I’m so excited. My dream is to see a girl walking down the street in Eveliina,” Emilia says, clapping her hands together.
With this new collection, that dream is becoming more and more possible every day. We want to be a part of their pastel vintage world, too – one slip at a time.