Kirsti Paakkanen

Career Paakkanen studied advertising, and worked for many years in the marketing departments of Finnish retail companies including Elanto and Stockmann.

In 1991, Paakkanen acquired the struggling design and fashion house Marimekko from the Amer group (now Amer Sports), and successfully turned it around, growing sales three-fold in a space of five years, and eventually listing the company on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 1999. She retired from day-to-day running of the business in 2007, appointing as her successor; two years later Ihamuotila acquired her shares.