can perfection be redesigned?

last thursday i was one of the few lucky finns to attend the launch of the all new finlandia vodka bottle. a crowd of a few hundred international guests gathered to greet new design and to finish a week of finlandia vodka cup, an annual bartenders' competition held in lapland.

the contents are still the same, but the look of the bottle went sleeker and more polished. moreover, the battling reindeer logo is back and will replace the running herd.

it pleases me to say that the american-owned brand still focuses on finnish talent: the new video was produced by komia with music from lcmdf, the bottle design is a collaboration with harri koskinen (as was the last one) and continues the tradition started by tapio wirkkala. the contents of each and every bottle come from single origin, that is, rajamäki finland, which is quite rare in these times of bulk vodka.

the old rail yard of pasila was transformed to an all white, icy world of vodka. entertainment was provided by axl smith and dj 3rrd and by a bunch of bartenders from all over the world, such as the soul shakers, setting things on fire(!) and building cocktails. food-pairing was created in collaboration with fat tomato catering.

here's a pictorial recap:

the space with several bars and klaus haapaniemi prints.

the new bottle.

dj 3rrd and axl smith freestylin'.

bottles of fire.

a bunch of bloggers: mv, me, silver and petra.

i'm wearing a jacket by alexander wang, leather bustier dress by theory, leather necklace by cos, wolford tights, wedges by camilla skovgaard and a louis vuitton clutch.

designer harri koskinen and yours truly (with seriously flattened hair... oh, the dismay of growing a mane).

all pics by paavo lehtonen, courtesy of finlandia.

the new bottle will be out later in the spring. until then, vodka from above will be available in its usual format. keep your judgement pure and drink responsibly.