From its beginnings 70 years ago, the brand stood for free-spirited bohemianism and bold confidence. Dominic Lutyens tells the story of a trailblazing Finnish phenomenon.
Marimekko’s unmistakable aesthetic is indivisible from the adventurous spirit of entrepreneur Armi Ratia, who co-founded the brand in 1951. Photographs of Ratia provide powerful projections of her personality and her brand’s ethos. In one photo from the 1960s, she reclines on a hammock at her summer house in the countryside, Bökars, reading The Letters of F Scott Fitzgerald, copies of Elle and Vogue on her lap – a picture of bohemian, cultured bliss. By contrast, in one 1970s image, she cuts a formidable figure at her printing factory in Helsinki sporting a swashbuckling maxi-coat, trousers tucked into boots, looking single-minded and fearless.
Marimekko’s unmistakable aesthetic is indivisible from the adventurous spirit of entrepreneur Armi Ratia, who co-founded the brand in 1951. Photographs of Ratia provide powerful projections of her personality and her brand’s ethos. In one photo from the 1960s, she reclines on a hammock at her summer house in the countryside, Bökars, reading The Letters of F Scott Fitzgerald, copies of Elle and Vogue on her lap – a picture of bohemian, cultured bliss. By contrast, in one 1970s image, she cuts a formidable figure at her printing factory in Helsinki sporting a swashbuckling maxi-coat, trousers tucked into boots, looking single-minded and fearless.
From its beginnings 70 years ago, the brand stood for free-spirited bohemianism and bold confidence. Dominic Lutyens tells the story of a trailblazing Finnish phenomenon.
Marimekko’s unmistakable aesthetic is indivisible from the adventurous spirit of entrepreneur Armi Ratia, who co-founded the brand in 1951. Photographs of Ratia provide powerful projections of her personality and her brand’s ethos. In one photo from the 1960s, she reclines on a hammock at her summer house in the countryside, Bökars, reading The Letters of F Scott Fitzgerald, copies of Elle and Vogue on her lap – a picture of bohemian, cultured bliss. By contrast, in one 1970s image, she cuts a formidable figure at her printing factory in Helsinki sporting a swashbuckling maxi-coat, trousers tucked into boots, looking single-minded and fearless.
From its beginnings 70 years ago, the brand stood for free-spirited bohemianism and bold confidence. Dominic Lutyens tells the story of a trailblazing Finnish phenomenon.
and her brand’s ethos. In one photo from the 1960s, she reclines on a hammock at her summer house in the countryside, Bökars, reading The Letters of F Scott Fitzgerald, copies of Elle and Vogue on her lap – a picture of bohemian, cultured bliss. By contrast, in one 1970s image, she cuts a formidable figure at her printing factory in Helsinki sporting a swashbuckling maxi-coat, trousers tucked into boots, looking single-minded and fearless.
