Marimekko floral prints and bold designs defined casual cool for five decades. Here, a visual primer on the company that fills Pinterest with pop art
By Nathan Whitlock
Even if you don’t know the name Marimekko, chances are you’ve spotted the design company’s iconic faux naïf patterns on bed linens, shoes and iPod cases. Finnish textile designer Armi Ratia first created the playfully garish pop art prints in the early ’50s, and by the ’60s, they were everywhere. (Jackie Kennedy was the company’s most famous early adopter.) The designs, which manage to be simultaneously sexy and twee, are more popular than ever in this era of Pinterest and all things artisanal. An exhibition on Marimekko, ongoing at the Textile Museum, pays tribute to the company’s flower power past, with floor-to-ceiling prints, vintage ads and articles, and age-of-aquarius quotations from Ratia. (“There is only one responsibility—beauty. There is only one reality—a dream. There is only one strength—love.”) Much of the material in the exhibit comes from the archives of Janis Kravis, the Latvian-born architect who, in 1959, opened Karelia, a combination café, studio and store in Toronto that specialized in Marimekko designs. The place quickly became an oasis of cool and the city’s entry point for the anti-drab aesthetics of Scandinavian modernism. Ratia died in 1979, the same year Karelia closed its doors, but Marimekko’s flowers continue to bloom.
ART
Marimekko: With Love
Textile Museum of Canada
To April 21
201523 The cover of a Marimekko promotional brochure from the mid-1970s (Image: courtesy of TMC) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-intro-e1364501991807-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-intro.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-intro.jpg 656 416 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-intro/ current-obsession-poppy-love-intro 0 0
(Image: courtesy of TMC)
201534 Karelia, which brought Marimekko to Toronto in the ’60s and ’70s, frequently changed location. This is the Front Street store, across from the Flatiron building (Image: courtesy of Janis Kravis) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-01-e1364502015615-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-01.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-01.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-01/ current-obsession-poppy-love-01 0 0
(Image: courtesy of Janis Kravis)
201535 Karelia owner Janis Kravis (left) hosted Armi Ratia at his Beaver Valley farm in 1975. Both wore the company brand, naturally (Image: courtesy of TMC) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-02-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-02.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-02.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-02/ current-obsession-poppy-love-02 0 0
(Image: courtesy of TMC)
201536 Floral designs are Marimekko’s signature look, but the company has always had a groovy way with stripes, too (Image: courtesy of Design Museum of Finland) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-03-e1364502043975-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-03.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-03.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-03/ current-obsession-poppy-love-03 0 0
(Image: courtesy of Design Museum of Finland)
201537 A zeitgeist-capturing photo from a 1966 <em>Life</em> magazine feature on Marimekko (Image: courtesy of TMC) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-04-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-04.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-04.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-04/ current-obsession-poppy-love-04 0 0
(Image: courtesy of TMC)
201538 EQ3’s new Liberty Village store has a whole section devoted to Marimekko-themed tchotchkes (Image: Katherine Holland) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-05-e1364502079442-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-05.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-05.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-05/ current-obsession-poppy-love-05 0 0
(Image: Katherine Holland)
201539 The clothing designs emphasized freedom and were never constrictive—Ratia wanted women to forget they were even wearing a dress (Image: courtesy of TMC) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-06-e1364502108633-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-06.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-06.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-06/ current-obsession-poppy-love-06 0 0
(Image: courtesy of TMC)
201540 Marimekko was so ubiquitous, its patterns even showed up in cartoons like <em>The Heart of Juliet Jones,</em> a soapy strip from the 1960s (Image: courtesy of TMC) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-07-e1364502129583-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-07.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-07.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-07/ current-obsession-poppy-love-07 0 0
(Image: courtesy of TMC)
201541 At the Marimekko factory, even the printing press is adorable (Image: courtesy of Marimekko Co.) Current Obsession: Poppy Love Current Obsession: Poppy Love https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-08-e1364502158703-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-08.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/current-obsession-poppy-love-08.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/city/marimekko-exhibition/slide/current-obsession-poppy-love-08/ current-obsession-poppy-love-08 0 0
(Image: courtesy of Marimekko Co.)