Tuula Kaakinen

Tuula Kaakinen is a Tampere-based designer and textile artist working across visual design, patterns and textiles. Her background in fashion design shows in the way she approaches shape and material: she's drawn to surface, texture and structure, and to how material can turn a two-dimensional pattern into something spatial. Colour and playfulness run through her work, bringing a sense of beauty and lightness to everyday life.

For Kaakinen, design and art move naturally side by side. Material is often her starting point, one she approaches with curiosity and a willingness to experiment, letting considered structure meet craft, chance, and the character of the material itself. Her rug Ylitys grew from this idea: the even surface of a woven rug breaks into long ryijy stripes that rise up out of it, bringing rhythm and abundance — a new take on the familiar Finnish rag rug. Ylitys won Finarte's rag rug competition in 2025 and is now part of the 2026 collection.