Marimekko

Marimekko is a Finnish company based in Helsinki that has made important contributions to fashion, especially in the 1960s. It is particularly noted for brightly colored printed fabrics and simple styles, used both in women's garments and in home furnishings. Two designers in particular, Vuokko Nurmesniemi with bold stripes, and Maija Isola with large simple flowered prints, created hundreds of distinctive patterns and helped to make Marimekko a household name across the world.

History

Foundation

Marimekko was founded in 1951 by Viljo and Armi Ratia, after the former's oil-cloth factory project failed and was converted to a garment plant. Armi asked some artist friends to apply their graphic designs to textiles. In order to show how the fabric could be used, the company then designed and sold a line of simple dresses using their fabric. It came as an early recognition of fashion as an industrial art and of Marimekko's role in the process when Finland's leading industrial designer Timo Sarpaneva invited the company to present a fashion show (albeit canceled at short notice) at the 1957 Triennale in Milan. The garments were eventually showcased in the nearby Rinascente upscale department store under its then store display manager Giorgio Armani.