A modern chef's jacket celebrates professional pride and equality

Chef Linnea Vihonen designed a fashionable and sustainable chef's jacket collection with Medanta. She is also a patron of Medanta's Les Amis campaign, a statement for the appreciation of vocational education. Linnea Chef's Jackets and a series of new aprons will be launched on Thursday, January 29, 2026.

“Early in my career, I got used to working in XXXL-sized, baggy chef's coats that got caught on door frames by the sleeves. When carrying a scalding hot GN package, oversized and ill-fitting clothes were really dangerous. But the assumption was that you just adapt to it. Otherwise, women were often expected to be one of the boys. You could be told to wear a little less lip gloss in the kitchen,” says Linnea Vihonen .

Equality has come a long way since those days, but it has been difficult to find chef jackets that are tailored for women, fit perfectly and are fashionable. Linnea says she thought about how she could combine practicality and professionalism with fashion in her work attire. When she was offered the opportunity to create her own chef jacket collection, the pieces fell into place.

“A chef’s jacket is a valuable and important part of my professional identity. An aesthetically pleasing garment highlights professional pride, creates a confident and well-composed feeling, and boosts self-confidence. I believe people do their work better when they feel comfortable in what they are wearing and can experience a sense of style.”

“When my clothes fit well, I perform better.”

Linnea is delighted that her idea for a new kind of chef jacket took shape exactly as she had envisioned on the table of Medanta's artistic director and founder, Taina Steiner.

“Taina designed a fantastic jacket. When I put it on for the first time, I immediately thought, ‘That’s it!’ The jacket fits like a sock and is wonderful in every detail – sleek, modern and made with women’s measurements. The jacket is also safe and responsible.”

During the development work, several variations of the chef's jacket were made. The material for the jacket was desired to be flexible, breathable and durable. The test material used was, among others, the bio-based Medanta Biopique fabric containing the corn fiber Sorona. It has similar properties to silk: it acts as a heat regulator, keeping the wearer cool in summer and warm in winter.

Linnea appears a lot in her work, both on television and at events. She hoped that the chef's jacket would look good paired with fashionable high-waisted trousers.

“The cut of traditional chef jackets is such that I think I look like a hunk in them. I feel more confident in well-fitting clothes and my appearance is better. The chef jacket in my collection is trendy short in the front and slightly longer in the back, so that your back is protected when bending over and lifting things. The proportions of the jacket flatter the body.”

There is a place for everyone in an equal working life

Linnea Vihosta and Medanta share a similar bold, boundary-breaking mindset and values. Linnea says she has had inspiring value discussions with Medanta staff along the way.

“We’re not just talking about women and clothes, but about equality in the kitchen. We want to shake up traditional formulas and old structures of what a chef or chef should be.”

There will be more direct talk in the future, as Linnea will serve as the ambassador for Medanta's 2025/2026 Les Amis campaign.

"I hope that I can also inspire and ignite a spark in young people entering working life through my own example," says Linnea Vihonen.

Les Amis is French and means friends. Vocational school students are often referred to as amis. There are still unnecessary prejudices associated with vocational education compared to, for example, upper secondary school. The aim of the campaign is to invite everyone to join in building a working life where there is a place for everyone, regardless of background.

"Vocational schools may still think that the profession you graduate with is what you will do until you retire. I want to encourage young people to see that there is really a lot to be gained from being a chef – it is worth trying your hand at it. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that not everyone needs to build an ambitious career story. All kinds of skills are needed."

“I want to break the culture of silence”

Linnea, who has worked as a chef in several restaurants, is happy that the somewhat stale and toxic work culture in the restaurant industry has begun to be discussed more openly, both within the industry and in public.

She wants to do her part to use her voice: to break the culture of silence and make kitchens safe places for everyone.

“I have had some very tough experiences in professional kitchens, and as a young manager I was certainly sometimes too strict myself. We are shaped by our experiences: when you have learned to work under shouting head chefs, it is easy to absorb that behavior as your own. I only wish I had had some kind of leadership or pedagogical training back then. No one is perfect. Everyone can face their mistakes and still choose to change. Asking for forgiveness already goes a long way.”

Linnea hopes to represent a management culture where every employee feels safe and meaningful in the kitchen.

“Restaurants operate under intense performance pressures. I used to think that a good employee was someone who just powered through at full throttle, no matter what. I want to tell young people that diversity is a strength in any workplace. We are all different kinds of learners. You can perform excellently at work even if, in someone else’s eyes, you might seem quieter or slower. That can also mean calmness — something that is never a disadvantage when working around hot pots. It is important to speak openly about equality and non-discrimination. Every young person should be given the right to build professional confidence without the fear of failure.”

Linnea Vihonen

• Chef, food designer, entrepreneur and respected visionary in the food world.
• Graduated from the English-language Restaurant Cook program at Helsinki restaurant school Perho in 2012.
• At the beginning of his career, he interned at Matias Dahlgren's Michelin-starred restaurant in Sweden. Since then, he has worked at several kitchens in Helsinki, including as head chef at Yes Yes Yes.
• Created the fashionable and sustainable Linnea Chef's Jacket workwear collection together with Medanta. Brand ambassador for Medanta's 2025 Les Amis campaign "Served for everyone".
• Travels around schools sharing inspiration for career choices and encouraging everyone to learn how to get anywhere from an vocational school. 
• “The Les Amis campaign is a statement in favor of valuing vocational education.”