History

Amanda Helin and Andreas Hansen co-founded the company in spring 2003. The original vision for the company was to create products that combine candy store colours and great personal style with long lasting utility at reasonable price. The idea was founded in 2002 when Amanda wanted to buy a new briefcase for her self. The briefcase she was looking for back then should have been feminine and also designed for women who want to stay feminine even tough they work beside men. She noticed that the market lacked stylish, feminine and colourful briefcases and so began designing her own. She put together some sketches, investigated production costs, and created a line of classically shaped briefcases in interesting colours.

While looking for a financer the collection crew from briefcases to handbags by following the same design philosophy. "I don’t like to design collections that includes only few pieces in different colours and minor changes in detailing, instead I have always liked playing with different shapes."

Keeping her fingers cross she hoped for the best and feared for the worst when the collection was first launched at Helsinki International fashion fair in 2003. She directly got her biggest customer and supporter from Aleksi 13 department store.

Today WiLMA has retailers in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Italy and Switzerland. Fashion magazines around Scandinavia are praising the unique design, fun colouring and the feminine design that WiLMA is offering to every woman’s personal style.

"The design should be nostalgic but at the same time have a modern twist about it."