Unikko

Marimekko

Type	Public (Nasdaq Helsinki: MMO1V)
Industry	Home furnishings Textiles Fashion
Founded	1951 in Helsinki, Finland
Founder	Armi Ratia Riitta Immonen
Headquarters	Helsinki, Finland
Key people	Mika Ihamuotila, CEO Maija Isola, Designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi, Designer
Revenue	€99.6 million (2016)
Operating income	€5.2 million (2016)
Net income	€4.0 million (2016)
Number of employees	431 (31.12.2016)
Website	marimekko.com

Marimekko is a Finnish home furnishings, textiles and fashion company based in Helsinki. It made important contributions to fashion in the 1960s. It is particularly noted for its 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 such as the Unikko poppy, created hundreds of distinctive patterns and helped to make Marimekko a household name across the world.

Marimekko was founded in 1951 by Viljo and Armi Ratia, after the Viljo'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. To show how the fabric could be used, the company then designed and sold a line of simple dresses using their fabric. 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, this was an early recognition of fashion as an industrial art and of Marimekko's key role in the process. The garments were eventually showcased in the nearby Rinascente upscale department store by display manager Giorgio Armani.

Two pioneering designers set the tone for Marimekko: Vuokko Nurmesniemi in the 1950s and Maija Isola in the 1960s. Nurmesniemi designed the simply striped red and white Jokapoika shirt in 1956. Isola designed the iconic Unikko (poppy) print pattern in 1964. Marimekko's bold fabrics and bright, simple design strongly influenced late 20th-century taste. Many of the early Marimekko designs, including Isola's Unikko, remain in production in the 2010s.