Pi Sarpaneva

Ann-Mari "Pi" Sarpaneva (1933-2019) was a Finnish interior designer. Pi began her studies in 1951 at the Ateneum, where she graduated as an interior architect. While studying at Ateneum, Pi met Timo Sarpaneva, who was a teacher of textile design at the school from 1953 to 1956. They married in 1954. The couple had two sons, Tom and Polo. Timo Sarpaneva won his first international prize as an industrial designer at the Milan Triennale in the early 1950s. Together, Timo and Pi were a successful, productive, and versatile couple, especially in the textile industry in the 1950s and 60s. Together and separately they designed both woven and printed fabrics for several international companies, including Mölnlycke, Kinnasand, Tampella, and Porin Puuvilla Oy.
In the mid-1960s, the Sarpanevas took over IKA, a fashion house in the center of Helsinki, where traditional studio work was maintained. This was the starting point for Pin's independent and successful career as a fashion designer. The Juniper outfits for women designed for Kestilä and the collections made from Ambiente fabrics by Leninkitukku in Salo were a strong demonstration of the independent talent emerging from her husband's shadow.

In 1970, Pi Sarpaneva founded P & M Design Ab together with Maj Kuhlefelt and became known especially as a designer of workwear. Tom Sarpaneva was the managing director of the company. At its peak, the company employed four designers who designed outfits for dozens of major companies in Finland and Sweden. Over the years, P&M produced millions of garments, including for export, and almost all of them were made in Finland.
Pi was alert, ahead of his time, and a bold experimenter. In addition to her textile and clothing collections, she designed logos, prints, and several archipelago houses. She also worked as an interior designer throughout her career, collaborating on several projects with architect Polo Sarpaneva.

Pi also designed a few pieces of furniture during her career. The prototype of the TF1 table sold at Bukowski's Design Sale auction was first exhibited in Milan in 1958. Produced by an Italian craftsman from the Ratti Company in Monza, the table is made of bent plywood and reflects Pi's particular interest in shapes. The TF1 table was never mass-produced and the prototype was part of the collection of the Italian Lillo (Letterio) Mangano and is illustrated in the book Design Finlandese la Collezione Mangano.