Marimekko Corporation, Press Release, 13 January 2012 at 10:30 AM
MARIMEKKO BRINGS MARIMEKKO VILLAGE FOR THE HELSINKI WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL YEAR 2012
The village emerging in various parts of Helsinki focuses on emotional quality of life
In 1962 Armi Ratia, the founder of Marimekko, defined Marimekko as ”a cultural phenomenon guiding the quality of living”. She spent time in the social circles associated with architect Aarno Ruusuvuori’s firm and was inspired by cultural philosopher Marshall MacLuhan’s idea of the “global village”. From here she started building a utopia called Marikylä (“Mari-village”), whose aim was no less than to house the staffs and to function as a laboratory for product design and to develop new ways of life. This year – when we celebrate the World Design Capital year of Marimekko’s home town Helsinki – Marimekko will bring to life the Marimekko Village of today. Since the beginning, Marimekko has been fascinated by the everyday happiness of people, and the Marimekko Village is a chance to work together with people to make it happen.
The Marimekko Village of 2012 brings together people and doing, thinking and aesthetics. With our design philosophy we will invite people to come together by creating interesting encounters and encouraging them to get inspired by colours and patterns in their everyday life. The Village is realized on many levels in Marimekko spaces and numerous events in Finland and abroad as well as in the virtual world in the Marimekko Village website www.marimekko.com/marimekkovillage. On the site people can track the event calendar and its updates, and follow the activities through the stories, photos and videos built up in dialogue with people.
“When envisioning what the Marimekko Village could be in 2012, we found that today a village no longer means only a physical living environment. Today villages exist in various forms – both in physical and digital – and it is always the people who make the village truly function. At the same time, especially in the Western world, quality of life has changed remarkably since the 1960s. We read countless stories of people working to find meaning in their lives and thinking more about their emotional quality of life. Marimekko’s original ideology and strong culture crystallize in the idea of the Marimekko Village. Our longstanding ambition has been to bring through bold colors and patterns a spark of joy, emotion to the everyday lives of people – and hence to understand how we, through our design philosophy and products, can have a positive impact on people’s emotional quality of life. Marimekko is also a social phenomenon with a long tradition of doing things together. We believe in enriching interaction and through the Marimekko Village we want to strengthen our dialogue with people as well as create opportunities for them to interact with each other”, says Minna Kemell-Kutvonen, Creative Director of Marimekko.
The Marimekko Village event calendar will be published online www.marimekko.com/marimekkovillage at the end of January and it will be continuously updated throughout 2012. During the year, the Marimekko Village events will also strand abroad, for example to New York and Tokyo.
Events in the Marimekko Village in spring 2012 include e.g.:
- Online collaboration initiative to honour the founder of Marimekko, Armi Ratia. In 2012, 100 years will have gone by since her birth.
- Launch of the Marimekko Map of Helsinki at the Marimekko Marikiska store in Helsinki
- Moments of life in Helsinki family event at the Marimekko stores
- Designer Erja Hirvi’s Bökars Revival photo exhibition in the Marimekko Marikiska store in Helsinki
- Off to the Woods! exhibition in Helsinki
- Marimekko’s legendary summer fashion show spiced up with new elements in Helsinki
- Open house events and talks as well as factory tours at the Marimekko-house in Helsinki
- etc.
Further information about the Marimekko Village and its events, and image requests:
MARIMEKKO CORPORATION
Marketing Communications
Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko
Acting Marketing Director, Head of PR
Tel. +358 9 758 7328
tiina.alahuhta-kasko@marimekko.fi
Maarit Heikkilä
PR Manager
Tel. +358 (0)9 758 7321
maarit.heikkila@marimekko.fi
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Marimekko is a Finnish textile and clothing design company renowned for its original prints and colours. The company designs and manufactures high-quality interior decoration items ranging from furnishing fabrics to tableware as well as clothing, bags and other accessories. When Marimekko was founded in 1951, its unparalleled printed fabrics gave it a strong and unique identity. Marimekko products are sold in approximately 40 countries. In 2010, brand sales of Marimekko products worldwide amounted to approximately EUR 150 million and the company's net sales were EUR 73 million. The number of Marimekko stores totalled 84 at the year end. The key markets are North America, Northern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The Group employs around 400 people. The company’s share is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. www.marimekko.com.
