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TAO X TOVE JANSSON COLLECTION

Tao by Comme Des Garçons presents a collection inspired by Tove Jansson's artwork for Spring Summer 2025.

Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001) achieved worldwide fame as the creator of the Moomins, written and illustrated between 1945 and 1980. The Moomin stories have been translated into more than 60 languages and are still in print all over the world today. Pictured above is Tove Jansson at work in her artist studio in the spring of 1973.

“The starting point of this collection is when I received the proposal about Moomin and thought I wanted to learn more about the author, Tove Jansson. As I started researching, I was deeply inspired by her adventurous spirit and curiosity, her passion for creation, and the way she lived her life without forgetting her own independence and freedom."

Kurihara explains, "looking at her paintings and diary, I felt that Tove herself must have been a very fashionable and charming person. I created this collection hoping that by printing her wonderful and powerful drawings onto fabric and wearing them, I could generate new feelings and energies.”

Pictured above, Tove Jansson with her niece Sophia on Klovharun, the island where Tove and her life partner Tuulikki Pietilä spent their summers for decades.

The cover of a colouring book designed by Tove Jansson. In the picture, Little My has made her own drawing of the motif on the cover, a recurring theme in Jansson's work.

Tove and Tuulikki reading by the dining table. They are sitting on two beds that doubled as a corner sofa during the daytime. These beds were however mostly used by visiting guests, as Tove and Tuulikki preferred to sleep in a tent outside.

Tove’s work desk with pencils, ink and painting equipment. In the middle, a figurine of the character Grandpa-Grumble from the novel Moominvalley in November, made by Tuulikki and later used in a diorama that can now be seen at the Moomin museum in Tampere.

Firmly rooted in Nordic storytelling, the Moomin stories reflect the values central to author and artist Tove Jansson: friendship, courage, respect for nature and adventure. The first Moomin book was published in 1945 in Finland, and the books, comics and animations have charmed millions of readers around the globe ever since.