Celebrate with Marimekko

Are you familiar with Finnish design house Marimekko? Marimekko offers clothing, bags, furnishings, interior design items and fabrics - amazing fabrics. They have so many great items this Holiday season that I wanted to introduce the company a little bit better for you. Also - I'm hosting a $100 gift card giveaway at Skimbaco Home to FinnStyle.com, one of Marimekko's premier retailers - make sure to visit there for a chance to get some Marimekko for the holidays!

Marimekko was founded in 1951 in Finland by visionary Armi Ratia, and became well-known in the US in the 60's thanks to Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore Marimekko dresses throughout the 1960 US Presidential campaign.

You may remember your mother and grandmother dressing in Marimekko, and Crate and Barrel started selling their interior products decades ago. In the early 90's Marimekko had financial difficulties, but the company received a new visionary owner, and Marimekko has grown ever since. Marimekko is one of those rare Finnish companies that people associate with Finland, and Finnish culture has been part of their branding since the beginning. (Nokia and Fiskars, for example, are equally as Finnish as Marimekko, but they don't include it in their branding). Marimekko's fashion shoots have been done in the idyllic Finnish countryside and the fabric prints are inspired by Finnish nature. The names of the products are still in Finnish and sold un-translated worldwide.

The company has always had bold, colorful prints, as well as minimalistic black and white designs. Two of the most loved ones are Unikko, the poppy flower print, and Kivet, the print with dots. The children's Bo Boo car print is also adored by children and parents worldwide. Marimekko is also loved by Carrie Bradshaw, the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker in the Sex and the City TV show and movie. Carrie wore Marimekko bikinis and dresses in the TV show, and had Marimekko curtains both in the TV show and in her new apartment in the movie. I have been spotting Marimekko's prints in other Hollywood movies as well.

During the spring of 2008, Marimekko had some exciting joint ventures with Avon, H&M and Manolo Blahnik, and they hired new designers. This year Marimekko wallpaper rolled into stores, and while minimalism is still big and bold in Marimekko's look book, there are even more colors and detailed prints. Today Marimekko goes stronger than ever.

Marimekko's Holiday 2009 catalogue just came out, and I wanted to share Sanna Annukka's whimsical prints, which are very traditionally Finnish and yet modern. They come alive in red, green and white. You can find many of these products from FinnStyle.