Marimekko

Marimekko was founded in 1951 by Armi Ratia. Her husband Viljo Ratia had bought the textile printing works Printex in 1949, and Marimekko grew out of it as a company making printed fabrics.

Its first textile designer was Maija Isola, who made 533 designs for the company over nearly forty years, among them Joonas in 1961 and Unikko, the poppy, in 1964. In the United States the fabrics first reached buyers through the Design Research stores.

From our shop

The Joonas cushion cover we found in September 2026 carries a Crate & Barrel Marimekko label. It is a licensed edition of Isola's 1961 pattern, made in the 2000s or early 2010s, and new rather than period.