Light feathers playing in the air, fleeting memories of a dream, fading images from another world… Cecilia Sörensen’s spring/summer collection leads you to dreams and the analysis of dreams, to a place and moment between sleep and awakening. The collection differs from Sörensen’s previous summer collection, which was romantic and girly; the designer says that the time for nostalgia is over and she is heading towards more mature collections.

Sörensen, who draws her inspiration mainly from her own experiences, says that her inspiration is usually born from the surrounding world and things around her. Movies and old photos also fascinate and inspire her. “The first photos taken of families were like fashion shoots,” she mentions.

Garments designed by Sörensen remind us of the designer: slender, feminine, down-to-earth and cool. They are Scandinavian with Spanish shading. “My inspiration can only be seen as an atmosphere and the details in the final collection. Clear influences usually drop out at some point.”

Among her own people

Helsinki-born Cecilia Sörensen graduated as a tailor in Finland in 1997. Soon after that, she headed up to Southampton, Great Britain, to pursue a degree in fashion design. After a year in Southampton, she left for Barcelona as an exchange student, but she never returned to Southampton. Instead, she ended up completing her studies in Barcelona.

The designer, who has just turned thirty, designs two collections: a collection under her own name, Cecilia Sörensen, and Pequeños Heroes, a small collection made of recycled materials. She is also involved in two shops selling young design in Barcelona: Bingo Shop and Comité. In addition, she is the force behind Koe Showroom, a wholesale event for young designers, held twice a year in Helsinki and Stockholm.

When Sörensen was younger, she had to choose between dancing and designing. She chose fashion design and a life in Barcelona, where she now lives permanently. “The culture of young designers has been very important in Barcelona for a long time,” she says. “New labels find their way in and out of the shops. There’s also a strong tradition of tourism with the expectancy of high quality. This contributes to the success of small labels.”

Bohemian Barcelona

In the past few years, Barcelona has become known for its bohemian atmosphere, but according to Sörensen, that trend is no longer so strongly felt. Still, the city is fertile ground for new designers just starting out.

“The reverse side of Barcelona is the rising prices. Apartment prices have doubled during the past six years. The fashion scene of the city also is in the middle of great changes after a corruption scandal – designers were paid huge fees from the taxpayers’ money for showing their collections in Barcelona. The cities were actually bidding over where the designers would show.”

Sörensen and her Finnish boyfriend have solved the housing problem by building a modern log house on a mountain next to Barcelona. It takes only thirteen minutes to get to the centre of the city on the underground.

The Spanish fashion week was broken up to calm the situation. The next fashion week will not be organised until September 2007. This year, eleven designers from Barcelona will share a common showroom. Sörensen will be one of them.

Work identity in Spain

”There isn’t any financial support for new entrepreneurs in Spain. I’ve been scraping by for five years, but it’s the only way to work in Spain. I have always had the next project waiting when the previous one have come to an end – but from now on, I might also have more time to relax.”

“I used to have many more hobbies than I have now. I went riding a lot when I first came to Barcelona. Now the company takes most of my time, but I still go snowboarding in the Pyrenees every once in a while – or do some yoga,” she says. “It also takes a lot of time to eat here in Spain – we eat at ease and in peace twice a day. When I leave work at 8:30 pm, I go to eat with my friends.”

Sörensen comes to Finland for holidays and to show her collection at Koe Showroom. “My work identity lies very clearly in Spain. It’s hard even to speak about my work in Finland or in Finnish,” she smiles.

For now, she’s not going to move back to Finland. But we don’t have to go to Spain to get our hands on her collection – it’s also available in small boutiques in Helsinki.