A DRESS MADE OF ICE AND DATA: From Antarctica to the Presidential Palace
Every year on December 6th, millions of Finns gather around their screens to watch the nation’s most-watched broadcast: the Independence Day Reception at the Presidential Palace. It is a celebration of freedom, resilience, and national pride. This year, among the dignitaries, diplomats, and designers, one gown returns to the red carpet carrying more than elegance: it carries a melting glacier. When Hannah Laurila , a prominent voice in Finland’s space tech community and the wife of ICEYE co-founder Pekka Laurila , attended the reception in 2022, she wore a one-of-a-kind evening gown patterned with satellite imagery of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier , one of the fastest-melting glaciers on the planet. The pattern was based on real data from ICEYE's synthetic aperture radar satellites. ICEYE has grown into a global leader in SAR satellite services: it operates one of the largest SAR satellite constellations in the world, offering persistent earth-monitoring day ...
