Finnish born designer Teija was initially trained at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in UK where she was awarded Royal Society of Arts graduate design award 2002. From there she went on to study MA womenswear in London at the Royal College of Art where she was drawn to traditional tailoring techniques and on how to deconstruct a garment.

At her RCA exhibition Teija was approached my Michiko Koshino, Japanese designer, to join her team. Teija designed for Michiko her Yen jeans collection aswell as co-designing the MK mainline collection on London Fashion Week. After Michiko Koshino, Teija had a short contract with a label called BGN, after which she joined global brand Ted Baker.

At Ted Baker Teija acquired skills on how to work on a concept for a large brand. She travelled with the label to New York and Hong Kong regularly and got to know the presence of the brand in different cultures. Teija was promoted to head of design in four years. At Ted Baker Teija designed unique capsule collections for Harrods and Selfridges and took part in the MADE BY project to improve the TB product lifecycle and planning on how the manufacturing could have less strain on the environment.

Last summer 2012, Teija launched her eponymous label TEIJA at the final of Fashion Fringe. The judges and mentors of the competition were Colin McDowell, legendary fashion journalist and Christopher Bailey, CCO of Burberry. Teija’s first signature collection since leaving the RCA was showcased on the LFW mainstage along two other finalists.

Since then Teija has created the second season for the label, AW13 which has been well received. Teija has already global interest for her design and her cloths have been worn by singer Kate Nash on her sold out tour.

Born and raised near the arctic, Teija explores concepts of protection and camouflage in her work. The upside down nordic nature and quirky set-apart Finnish culture feeds continuously into her inspiration and her identity as a designer. She sets herself constant challenge to create the purest expression of the concept through sculpting the shapes and by innovating new techniques to create a daring contemporary womenswear collection.