Anne-Mari Pahkala
Finnish Fashion Designer & Founder of Anmai
Anne-Mari Pahkala is a Finnish fashion designer whose work spans an independent artistic fashion practice, ceremonial design and the creative direction of Anmai’s made-to-order ready-to-wear.
Over nearly two decades, her designs have been worn at the Golden Globe Awards, the Nobel Prize Ceremony and Finland’s Independence Day Reception, while her work has been presented at Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki. Across these fields, she explores form, material, skilled making and the lasting value of design.
Portrait by Elina Simonen, 2026.
Form, material and time
Anne-Mari’s approach to clothing draws on the methods of sculpture. She develops form in three dimensions through intuitive, research-led experiments with material, structure and the scale of the body. She considers clothing through function and cultural meaning, with silhouette, construction and finish forming a coherent whole. Her aim is design defined by precision and presence, created to retain its relevance beyond a season.
Her perspective has also been shaped by her role as Head of Design at the Finnish design brand Samuji from 2022 to 2025. In 2026, the Finnish Cultural Foundation awarded her a six-month working grant for her independent artistic work exploring fashion design and the philosophy of timelessness.
Ateneum Art Museum, 2025. Photograph by Angelina Ilmast.
Origins of form
Anne-Mari’s design language is rooted in South Ostrobothnia, where open landscapes, clear structures and a culture of practical making shaped her sense of form. Growing up as the daughter of an upholsterer taught her to notice what gives an object longevity: construction, repair, care and material intelligence.
Her long-standing interest in Japanese aesthetics and craft traditions has deepened this attention to time and process. A connection to Italy, beginning with a period of work in Venice during her studies in 2006, shaped her appreciation of craftsmanship and carefully selected materials. These references meet in an expression she describes as Beyond Nordic Minimalism.
Portrait by Lotta Kankaanpää.
Anmai — ready-to-wear, reconsidered
Anne-Mari founded Anmai in 2025 as a made-to-order ready-to-wear brand. Through precise silhouettes, carefully selected materials, skilled collaboration and production guided by demand, Anmai brings her design thinking into everyday life. Each design is intended to be worn repeatedly and to remain part of a considered personal wardrobe over time.
Anmai stands as a distinct brand. Anne-Mari’s independent artistic practice, ceremonial design and selected made-to-measure commissions continue under her own name.
“For me, rethinking fashion means creating better, producing more thoughtfully, and making every design count. I’m deeply curious about the future, and that curiosity keeps me questioning how fashion can be designed, produced, valued and lived with.”