Marimekko

The Finnish textiles company Marimekko was founded in 1951, by husband and wife Viljo and Armi Ratia, as a response to the lack of clothing in Finland after the war. Marimekko means “Mari’s dress” or, in other words, “a simple, everyday dress without frills”. This concept was the basis of the company, despite Marimekko’s first collections consisting of what were then daring colours and patterns. Initially, Armi Rati designed some of the motifs, but he soon let others do the creating. In 1953 Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi was employed as the company’s head designer. She played an important role in shaping Marimekko’s clothing lines and fabric production, and is behind Marimekko’s classic striped fabric, Piccolo. Despite Vuokko leaving as head designer in 1960, she is still intimately linked with Marimekko and her striped shirt, Jokapoika, made for Marimekko in 1956, is still in production.