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 81 107 000 2008 number of employees 414 2008 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 . 1 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 . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 pioneering design 1.3 commercial growth 2 marimekko chart 3 reception 4 bibliography 5 references 6 external links history edit foundation edit the finnish entrepreneur armi ratia 1912 1979 founder of marimekko . marianne aav s book on marimekko has maija isola s iconic 1964 unikko print as its background marimekko in kamppi helsinki 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 . 2 pioneering design edit two pioneering designers set the tone for marimekko vuokko nurmesniemi in the 1950s and maija isola in the 1960s . 3 4 nurmesniemi designed the simply striped red and white jokapoika shirt in 1956 . isola designed the iconic unikko poppy print pattern in 1964 . 5 marimekko s bold fabrics and bright simple design strongly influenced late 20th century taste . 6 many of the early marimekko designs including isola s unikko remain in production in the 2010s . 7 commercial growth edit marimekko was first introduced to the united states by the architect benjamin c. thompson who featured them heavily in his design research stores . they were made famous in the united states by jacqueline kennedy who bought eight marimekko dresses which she wore throughout the 1960 united states presidential campaign . 8 in the mid 1960s crate & barrel began a relationship with marimekko which continues to this day using their designs on textiles sold in their stores . crate & barrel also uses marimekko patterns as display backdrops in their stores to add color and seasonality . by 1965 the company employed over 400 staff and the company was in every aspect of fine design from fabrics to toys and dinnerware . the firm even completely equipped small houses with furnishings . that year armi ratia told pan am s clipper magazine that she was against success it is a sick word . too many side effects . in the interview by r. e. smallman she also said that she did not like hats corsets . there is almost no more bra or even pants no elegant woman will wear stockings perhaps even no shoes . the world changes quickly and this is expression of the new society . in 1985 the company was sold to amer yhtym . in the early 1990s marimekko was in a bad financial condition and was close to bankruptcy . it was then bought from amer by kirsti paakkanen who introduced new business methods in the company paakkanen played a key role in saving marimekko and helping to revive its popularity . 8 later on the 1990s marimekko achieved publicity in the hit tv series sex and the city . the fictional main character of the series sex and relationship columnist carrie bradshaw wore a marimekko bikini on season 2 and later on a marimekko dress . in season 5 the series also introduced tablecloths with marimekko prints . 8 in 2005 marimekko s revenue had quadrupled since paakkanen s purchase and its net income grown 200 fold . kirsti paakkanen remained ceo of marimekko and owned 20 % of the company via her business workidea . in 2007 paakkanen announced she would gradually hand over her ownership to mika ihamuotila as ceo and biggest owner of the company . in 2007 marimekko began opening individually owned marimekko concept stores in the united states and canada . as of 2011 there are stores in new york city cambridge massachusetts ; oxford mississippi ; miami florida ; and vancouver british columbia . 9 by september 2011 there were 84 stores across the world . 8 marimekko chart edit the marimekko name has been adopted within business and the management consultancy industry to refer to a bar chart where all the bars are of equal height there are no spaces between the bars and the bars are in turn each divided into segments of different width . the design of the marimekko chart is said to resemble a marimekko print . 10 the chart s design encodes two variables such as percentage of sales and market share but it is criticised for making the data hard to perceive and to compare visually . 11 reception edit cindy babski wrote in the new york times that there was never any doubt about what the inside label would say . the clothes and fabrics with their striking design and splashes of bold color were clearly marimekko . but for people of a certain generation those who came of age in the 1960 s they represented more than just a brand name they conjured up an image and an era . 12 in 2007 heidi avellan wrote in the swedish newspaper sydsvenskan that marimekko was no longer a statement just as t shirts with revolutionary che guevara or palestinian scarves rarely express any political awareness . marimekko is paper napkins and rubber boots . she wrote that marimekko began with the colourfully striped shirt jokapoika which vuokko nurmesniemi designed in 1956 which became the symbol for new radicalism in academia . 13 bibliography edit aav marianne . marimekko fabrics fashion architecture . yale university press 2003 . isbn 978 0 300 10183 6 cole drusilla . the pattern sourcebook a century of surface design . laurence king 2009 . isbn 978 1 85669 621 0 fogg marnie . 1960s fashion print a sourcebook . batsford 2008 . isbn 978 0 7134 9054 1 6 page sized illustrations of isola s prints google books isola kristina . maija isola life art marimekko . design museo 2005 . isbn 978 952 9878 42 0 jackson lesley . twentieth century pattern design . princeton architectural press 2007 . isbn 978 1 56898 712 5 suhonen pekko . phenomenon marimekko . marimekko oy 1986 . references edit marimekko finnish design . kaj kalin ; timo sarpaneva ; marjatta svennevig 1986 . sarpaneva . helsinki otava . isbn 951 1 07887 9 . kristina isola 2005 marnie fogg 2008 marimekko timeline retrieved 30 october 2011 lesley jackson 2007 marimekko products in 2011 retrieved 30 october 2011 a b c d qureshi huma 20 september 2011 . the guardian house and home blog . marimekko s bid for world domination . the guardian . retrieved october 30 2011 . marimekko shop locator retrieved 30 october 2011 mekkographics.com example marimekko chart retrieved 30 october 2011 cindy babski january 3 1988 . marimekko changes its spots . new york times . heidiavellan 5 august 2007 . radikala r nder radical stripes . sydsvenskan . retrieved 5 october 2012 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title marimekko & oldid 738844159 categories finnish designtextile designfashion designclothing companiesclothing brandsfinnish brandshigh fashion brandstextile companiescompanies based in helsinkidesign companies established in 1951manufacturing companies established in 19511951 establishments in finlandcompanies listed on the helsinki stock exchangehidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages deutschfran ais slenskaitalianomagyarnederlands norsk bokm lpolski simple englishsuomisvenska edit links this page was last modified on 11 september 2016 at 11 29 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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