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Maarit Salolainen is Professor of Textile Design and Head of the MA Major in Fashion and Textile Design at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Salolainen is the scientific leader of the Horizon EU-funded MELANGE-project and consortium (2026-2029). 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 was published in 2025 by Thames & Hudson.