Who/what is Marimekko? • A Finnish design company based in Helsinki • Textiles, furnishings, homewares – a lifestyle approach • Established during the golden age of post-war modernism in 1951 • Artists and designers invited to create textile designs – a collaborative approach
Marimekko’s mission • Armi Ratia envisaged a bold future for textile design • Coincided with the liberation of women in 60s, radical loose fitting designs • Original mission is still relevant – to bring joy to everyday moments Marimekko’s first fashion show was held in restaurant Kalastajatorppa, Helsinki, Finland in May 20th, 1951. The fabrics were designed by several designers including Maija isola, Eelis Muona and Eeva-Inkeri Tilhe. Garments were designed by fashion designer Riitta Immonen, who had her own fashion salon / atelée in Helsinki. Photograph by Kolmio. Image courtesy Design Museum, Helsinki
CHARACTERISTICS OF MARIMEKKO • Contrasts: urban and rural, restrained and bold, colourful and black and white, traditional and modern. • Founded in the early 1950s, the period known as the golden age of post-war modernism in Finland. • (note: Golden Age of Couture – Paris and London were 1947- 1957) • Emerging liberation of women from the traditional role of housewives. • The change in women’s fashions was particularly evident in Marimekko clothes in the mid-1950s. • Vuokko Nurmesniemi’s designs in 1950s : minimized use of cuttings in clothes was typical of her designs, ensuring the original fabric design was as complete as possible. The clothes represented a pure, new concept; they were free from the rules that constrained dress and dictated how women were supposed to look and what they should represent.
MARI and MEKKO • The name of the company comes from the woman’s name Mari (Mary) suffixed by the word ’ mekko ’ meaning dress . • In 1951, when Marimekko was founded, the ready-to-wear garment industry was still a relatively small sector in Finland, but over the following decades it grew to become an important player. • Marimekko’s meteoric rise to the international scene is without parallel in the history of Finnish textile design.
Liisa Suvanto Designer Liisa Suvanto (1910-1983) and a model wearing a dress designed by Suvanto, 1963 Photograph: Seppo Saves. Image courtesy Design Museum, Helsinki
Annika Rimala Designer This dress is made from the fabric Luukku (hatch), which was designed by Rimala in 1963. Rimala favoured minimal cuttings in the garments she designed, and in this instance only half of the pattern has been printed to the fabric. Annika Rimala (1936 – 2014, Finland). Sokkeli (plinth) 1963, printed cotton. Design Museum, cat.nr. 30869
Liisa Suvanto Designer Both the garment Kikapuu and this fabric pattern, Ruuturaita (square stripe) were designed by Liisa Suvanto. Liisa Suvanto (1910 – 1983, Finland) Kikapuu 1973 printed cotton Design Museum, cat.nr. 29238
MARIMEKKO PRODUCTS • From the early 1960s – other products • Textiles for interiors • Utility items for the home • Used the decorative motifs for which the company had become famous on objects. • Marimekko had grown to become a lifestyle concept that would ultimately even include the built environment.
Holistic approach to design Marimekko’s graphic, large scale patterns were to be used throughout interiors. Featured here are curtains from the Joonas collection, designed in 1961,in the home of designer Maija Isola. The designer herself is included in the image (reflection in mirror). Interior of Maija Isola’s home in Helsinki. Image courtesy Design Museum, Helsinki
Utility items featuring Marimekko designs Marimekko Design Team Rubber boots, 2005. Sami Ruotsalainen (born 1978 Finland). Oiva (superb) Printed rubber. Design Museum nr S1029 2009, stoneware. Design Museum cat nr 1034
Reinterpreting vintage patterns Annika Rimala (1936-2014, Finland) Suomo 1965, printed cotton, rubber. Design cat nr S1018. These tennis shoes were produced by Converse in 2011 using Anika Rimala’s pattern Suomo .
MARIMEKKO PATTERNS • Marimekko is renowned for its designs for printed fabrics. • Patterns were designed by dozens of different artists and designers. • One of Marimekko’s best-known designers was Maija Isola (1927 – 2001), who created almost 500 patterns for fabrics during her lifetime. • Isola would vary pattern motifs inexhaustibly. One collection could consist of small romantic motifs while the following one employed graphic designs of large patterns.
Maija Isola used several different techniques when she designed patterns, including painting patterns by hand, or using paper cut-outs. Maija Isola painting a pattern in the 1960s. Image courtesy Design Museum, Helsinki
Installation view Image: Installation view. Photograph: William Conroy, Press 1 Photography
Installation view – fabric samples Image: Installation view. Photograph: William Conroy, Press 1 Photography
Installation view Image: Installation view. Photograph: Imagine Pictures
FABRIC COLLECTIONS • Some of Marimekko’s best-known print designs were created in the 1960s, under the generic name ‘the architect collection’. • These fabrics were marketed to architects and interior designers, and aimed to complement the interiors of the stark, modernist buildings that were typical of the period. • In 1969, Marimekko employed the Japanese designer Katsuji Wakisaka , who was Isola’s equal as a tireless painter and artist. He developed a number of figurative motifs for patterns. • Fujiwo Ishimoto , also from Japan, came to work for Marimekko in 1974. He followed a more restrained and graphic approach in his print designs.
Fujiwo Ishimoto Above: Installation view featuring designs by Ishimoto. Photograph: William Conroy, Press 1 Photography Right: Fujiwo Ishimoto, a Japanese textile and ceramic artist who joined Marimekko in 1974. Image courtesy of Design Museum, Helsinki
Katsuji Wakisaka Above: Installation view, Bendigo Art Gallery, featuring the design Bo boo . Photograph: William Conroy, Press 1 Photography Right: Katsuji Wakisaka and sketch of the pattern Bo boo , 1975. Image courtesy Design Museum, Helsinki
Vuokko Nurmesniemi Designer Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi (born 1930) has had a lasting impact on Marimekko's clothing design, patterns and colours. With her clean-cut clothes, she shook up the dress codes and conventions of the 1950s, tuning into the women’s liberation movement at the time. Vuokko achieved a never-before-seen sophistication in colour combinations by overlapping colours during the printing process. This colour overlap in print patterns has become a signature style for Marimekko. Image: Installation view, Cheerful Coat, Bendigo Art Gallery. Photograph: William Conroy, Press 1 Photography
DESIGNERS • The company’s history has often been based on the individual contribution of strong women. Its founder, Armi Ratia, was a creative visionary and verbally talented trailblazer, and a rare female executive in a male-dominated corporate world. • Vuokko Nurmesniemi, Maija Isola, Annika Rimala and Liisa Suvanto were designers during Marimekko’s early years, and their individual contributions still have an impact on Marimekko’s products and identity even today. • Marimekko’s team of designers, however, included and still includes men. In the 1970s, Pentti Rinta, Katsuji Wakisaka and Fujiwo Ishimoto joined the company, providing their personal touch to Marimekko’s patterns and fashion designs. The mark of their hand is as recognizable as that of their predecessors
Key designers Vuokko Nurmesniemi c1958 Annika Rimala Image courtesy Design Museum, Helsinki Image courtesy of Design Museum, Helsinki
International acclaim • Early adoption by Design Research in the USA • Endorsed by Jackie Kennedy • Marimekko’s repution grew rapidly • Armi Raita – the ‘village’ vision • Australian connection, Marion Hall Best • Expanded to include a variety of accessories and homewares Sports Illustrated magazine, December 26, 1960. The cover of the magazine featured future US president John F Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy. Jackie had become an admired role model in both the United States and Europe, and was shown wearing a pink Marimekko summer dress. Two dresses owned by Jackie are included in the exhibition. Image courtesy of Design Museum, Helsinki
DESIGN HOUSE HISTORY • Armi Ratia, Marimekko’s founder was a central figure for the company, which she often personified. Following her death in 1979, Marimekko was headed for a few years by Armi Ratia’s descendants Ristomatti and Anttimatti Ratia and Eriika Gummerus, who then relinquished their ownership of the company in 1985. The new owner was the Amer Group, a multisector conglomerate. It failed in renewing the company and withdrew from ownership in 1991. Kirsti Paakkanen, the former owner and head of an advertising agency, acquired ownership and launched a vigorous and successful program of reform. • In recent years, Mika Ihamuotila, who became CEO of Marimekko in 2008, has developed the company in an international direction.
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