We are proud to launch our collection with the Japanese designer Akira Minagawa, founder of design brand minä perhonen, at the Maison&Objet Fair on the 18th of January, 2024. The collection features two designs called METSÄLAMPI (“forest pond”) and KESÄKUKKA (“summer flower”). Both designs are available as towels and blankets.

The style of Akira Minagawa, the mastermind behind the minä perhonen brand, is often described with words such as romantic, naïve and imaginative. Akira himself doesn’t submit to a particular style – to him, everything starts with his own memories, which he wishes to bring to life.

– I create with the feeling that I am bringing the fantasies in my mind out of my hands and into the real world.

Jaana Hjelt, the co-owner of Lapuan Kankurit, has admired the Japanese designer for years.

– As soon as we picked playfulness as our theme for the coming spring, minä perhonen came to my mind. His style fits the theme perfectly with its cheery and colourful tones – it’s exactly what the world could use more of right now.

The new designs, METSÄLAMPI and KESÄKUKKA, are just that: whimsical designs full of colour and joy. The METSÄLAMPI design represents the Finnish landscape with its bountiful forests, mountains and bodies of water. The gorgeous KESÄKUKKA design is a testament to Akira’s wondrously vivid imagination, featuring an imaginary flower he painted while picturing it blooming casually and happily on the streets of Finland.

Both Akira and Jaana are happy with the collaboration.

– Good things cannot be created without trusting each other through empathy and respect. These are the two important elements that have allowed us to quickly become comfortable with each other and trust each other. That makes me happy, Akira says.

Jaana’s answer echoes with the same sentiments.

– We immediately felt a kinship with Akira, seeing how incredibly passionate he is about his work. As he said so himself after our first meeting: it feels like we’ve been friends for a long time already. We are all so grateful to be able to launch this gorgeous collection in Paris, and hope that the collection will keep growing in the future.

The Maison&Objet exhibition takes place 18.–22.1. 2024 in Paris.
You can find Lapuan Kankurit in Hall 5A, stand D33.