Flowers from Finland
The mistress of the colors wears black. A costume jacket with a deep neckline, sparkling diamond jewelry, the skirt knee-length and tight. Deep black hair, high stilettos, strong make-up. Kirsti Paakkanen, 76, could be considered a French film diva rather than a company boss. She almost became an electorate Frenchman. That was in 1991. "I had decided to retire in the south of France," says Kirsti Paakkanen. For half a year, the former manager of a Finnish advertising agency in Nice played Dolce Vita. But when she heard that Marimekko was for sale, she returned to Helsinki. "I even left my husband for the company, he stayed in France," she says, "but that was not so bad, a life without work, just as a wife, would not have been enough for me."
So she hit the throttle again - in her early 60s, after a more than fulfilled working life. In the short version Kirsti Paakkanens Vita reads like this: grew up as a daughter of a forest worker, with 15 to Helsinki, where she graduated from high school, worked as a milk saleswoman and so her marketing and advertising studies financed.
First own advertising agency in 1969. Kirsti Paakkanen calls her agency "Womena" and initially only hires women. The women of the company are soon one of the most renowned advertising women in the country. And Kirsti Paakkanen is getting closer to her private dream - actually a man's dream - she wants a really great car, a Jaguar. In her wallet, she always keeps the photo of her dream car. In 1986 it is time: She buys a black Jaguar coupe.
Marimekko flowers from Finland
There is something about Marimekko in every Finnish household
"I have always liked Marimekko, which is something that works for almost everyone in Finland - this brand is like a piece of our lives," says Kirsti Paakkanen. In your home country you can find in every household any piece of the famous design company. Be it a curtain, a tablecloth, curly underwear for the kids or a colorful summer dress.
The Finnish company was not doing well in the early 1990s. Five and a half years after the death of company founder Armi Ratia, a large Finnish company had taken over the management and run down the company. One of the main mistakes: The new bosses had taken the classic pattern from the program. In the first trimester, the new boss reprinted the old designs. The first attempt she started with the pattern "Fandango". Maija Isola, the star designer of the house, designed "Fandango" in 1962 - quiet, ornamental tendrils and stylized fruits and flowers. "We combined it in gold in red, black and white," says Kirsti Paakkanen. "That was a great success." Six months later, the company made profit again. Since then Marimekko runs nothing without the cheerful "Appelsiini", the simple "Kivet" (German: stones) and the other 60s and 70s children - especially the flower power pattern "Unikko".
"Unikko" is the most popular Marimekko pattern. There does not seem to be anything on which one could not print the mother of all floral designs. "Unikko" adorns clothes, rubber boots, clogs, raincoats, mousepads, cups and plates, towels, tablecloths, curtains and comforters, baby bibs and pacifiers and, most recently, even Nordic Walking poles. Here, company founder Armi Ratia Florales had actually banned. "Flowers are so beautiful by themselves that you'd rather not picture them," she told her designers as a maxim. But Maija Isola's design by "Unikko" convinced the boss. "The poppy flowers are my first childhood memory in connection with Marimekko," says Mika Piirainen. "On my fourth birthday, the cake with the candles on an oilcloth tablecloth with 'Unikko' pattern."
Piirainen is 37 today and works as a designer at Marimekko. "I draw my inspiration from the old patterns - and from nature - Marimekko could not be any different now than in Finland - we simply learned this design language from childhood." For the autumn collection 2006 he reinterpreted an old Maija Isola pattern. "Hevonen" shows horses. Instead of black and white as before, Piirainen today jumps purple and yellow steeds on a gray background. As a substance he has chosen, among other coarse Cord. To the skirts, blouses, T-shirts or jeans in horse print one wears monochrome ponchos or scarves. In addition, Piirainens collection features striped shirts in autumnal multicolor shades - looks a bit like a washed-out rainbow. The stripes - whether you like them or not - are one of the Marimekko trademarks.
Marimekko released the first unisex collection
It was a small revolution when the first unisex collection came out in the 60s.Ringelshirts for men as well as for women, at first mostly cross-striped, later with wide block stripes or - particularly popular with gentlemen - in narrow longitudinal stripes. "Stripes are fresh and Scandinavian, and I set my ambition to invent new ones every year," says Marimekko designer Ritva Falla, 53. How to reinvent streaks? "I vary the width, play with the colors, and this year I made quite irregular stripes for the shirts," she explains. The stripes appear roughly cut out with scissors. Discrete-irregular, but definitely suitable for the office. Ritva Falla is responsible for the women's business line of Marimekko. Her motto: "Easy wear, good looking, high quality."
Marimekko produces completely in Finland. Printing, processing, shipping - everything happens in Helsinki. "That's how we can secure our high quality standards," says Kirsti Paakkanen. She is a boss who works closely with her employees - giving them a lot of freedom. "Everyone has a responsibility for what he does, and if I trust my people, they will do a lot," is their experience. Marimekko is well established in Scandinavia, and the brand is catching on in Germany too, with America and Japan following suit. In addition to the old patterns, many new ones are added every season. As different as the designs are, they all have one thing in common: clear, bright colors, clear forms, as in Marimekko's early days. The reduction to the essentials. "Of course it was the retro boom that gave us a boost," says Kirsti Paakkanen. "Things can bring home, our lives have become so complicated, do something familiar, something simple good, and if it's a piece of stuff."
Reference addresses: Frankfurt, Marimekko, Öder Weg 29, Tel. 069/13 02 38 11 Hamburg, The Rocking Chair, Ottenser Hauptstraße 39a, Tel. 040/39 71 30 Munich, Radspieler, Hackenstraße 7, Tel. 089/235 09 80 Berlin, Hartog, Knesebeckstraße 68, Tel. 030/883 79 29
More info: www.marimekko.com
