Maarit Salolainen

Head of the MA Major in Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design

  • Phone+358 50 4428381
  • Otaniementie 14, 02150 Espoo

1995 …2025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Artistic and research interests

Maarit Salolainen is Professor of Textile Design and Head of the MA Major in Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. She is a textile expert with extensive international experience across the textile industry.

Professor Salolainen has developed higher education studies in textile design, focusing on renewing textile studio pedagogy and linking textile studies to fashion education. She is passionate about bridging textile knowledge across disciplinary boundaries. Salolainen has initiated experimental pedagogy in multidisciplinary pedagogical platforms, exposing students from non-design backgrounds to creative artistic processes.

In addition to her academic work, Salolainen has worked internationally in the textile industry, latest as creative director at the Turkish textile mill Vanelli Textile, leading a team of 25 designers to design and develop new concepts, products and collections for international interior textile editors and brands. In 2014, Salolainen was awarded the Designer of the Year award by the Finnish Designers Association.

Maarit Salolainen's book Interwoven—Exploring Materials and Structures (AaltoARTS Books 2022), a textbook and guide to mastering textile design, won the International Creative Media Awards gold medal in the Educational textbook category. A new, revised edition of Interwoven will be published in 2024 by Thames & Hudson.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Education/Academic qualification

Taiteen maisteri, Taideteollinen korkeakoulu

Award Date: 11 Dec 1992

External positions

Creative Director, Vanelli

1 Jun 20181 Dec 2023

Creative Direction Collaboration, GM Fabrics Private Limited

1 Sept 201631 May 2018

Creative Director, F&F Floor and Furnishings

1 Jan 201131 May 2015

Design Director, Lauritzon's

1 May 200631 Dec 2010

Design Director, Backhausen GmbH

1 May 200330 Apr 2006

Founder, Creative Director, Textile Designer, Maarit Salolainen Design

1 Sept 1992 → …

Keywords

  • Textile design
  • Functional textiles
  • Interior textiles
  • Collection management
  • Textile technology
  • Textile fibres
  • Multidisciplinary pedagogy
  • Creative Direction
  • Sustainability in textiles
  • Textile colouration
  • Circularity in Textiles
  • Textiles
  • Fashion textiles
  • Fashion

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