Post 5. Marimekko goes H&M

CIAO!

Since the last time I already started with Marimekko, the great finnish design company, I will continue by discussing Marimekko's collaboration with a swedish fashion company H&M. Last summer H&M launched a whole line of clothes designed by Marimekko. The designes used in fabrics were not nothing new from Marimekko but the designs of clothes were naturally following the newest trends and were aimed to fashionalble young people. The designs H&M used were five different ones from 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The companies described the line as "happily fresh, like an injection of vitamins".

By agreeing to do this collaboration with H&M, Marimekko also got lots of advantages from it. Firstably, since Marimekko is mostly known from its classic designs and clothes aimed for mostly middle-aged people, H&M clearly changed their image a bit younger. Since H&M is clearly one of the most trendy fashion houses in the world, it helped Marimekko to promote its products also for young people. This act made Marimekko more trendy than in years.

Also, even though Marimekko is well-known company and has expanded to many different countries, H&M made it even more known worldwide. The line of clothes by H&M was presented in 28 different countries. If Marimekko would have done this by itself, it would have taken lot more energy, money and time. By collaborating with H&M Marimekko managed to introduce its designs for wide variety of consumers in a short time.

As I previously presented you the most known desgn, Unikko fabric, by Marimekko, the question rises, if this design was part of the collection made for H&M. The answer is NO. Neither, H&M not Marimekko didn't want to include this design in the collection. H&M didn't even suggest getting the design in the line and Marimekko thinks, people may be even a bit bored with the design since, at least in Finland, it has been shown so much.

Post 4. Marimekko and the fight for the Unikko-design with Dolce&Gabbana

Ciao everyone!

Today I want to introduce you very famous Finnish company, Marimekko. It is a company founded in the 1950s and from there on, it has been one of the most succesfull finnish design companies. The most famous design of Marimekko is Unikko-fabric, which is designed by Maija Isola in 1964. Ironicly, the fabric was designed right after the CEO at that time had announced that the company is never going to design flower fabrics. As a protest for that statement Maija Isola then designed the fabric, from which became a huge success. At this time it is still the most known design of Marimekko and now it is probably more famous than ever. The company owns the patent rights to the use of the Unikko-design.

In June 2008 Dolce&Gabbana had used Unikko-fabric in some of their clothes, for example in shorts and skirts. According to Marimekko, Dolce&Gabbana had used the design without the permission of company. Dolce&Gabbana has applied for the cancellation of the patent for Marimekko's red Unikko-fabric.

It is really interesting to follow the battle of these two companies: Dolce&Gabbana being one of the biggest fashion companies in the world and Marimekko having such a strong position in the world of designing fabrics. The time will show, how this dispute will be solved. However, as a finnish person, my personal opinion is that Marimekko should be justified to keep the Unikko-fabric for itself. Not less because it is really the design which has raised Marimekko to the position, where it is at the moment.

On the right side is a dress from Dolce&Gabbana and on the left side a jacket of Marimekko.
The similarity of the designs is not debatable.

Post 3. About design in general...

Design... it is used to improve the world, to make things simpler. For example new technologies are considered design and they are created to make things happen smoothly. A designer can be considered as a story teller. Designs are stories and the story telling capacity of a designer is the key feature.

Design world is changing nowdays. Design is becoming a commodity, so it is everywhere. Every object in the world is designed by someone. This makes design a thing that belongs to everyone. As before design was considered only as something luxurious, now it is becoming more and more part of normal people's life. Also the design world is changing in terms of its size. It is expanding from North America, Western Europe and Japan to South America, China, India, Southeast Asia and Korea etc. It is also becoming a common thing for people all around the world.

As design is becoming a commodity, it can be described like mass production of specialized products. So, one example of this could be IKEA, since it is designing all of its products and they are ment to be sold for ordinary people. The first thing considered when designing an IKEA product is usually the price and the easiness logistics. Of course the appearance of the product is important as well, but IKEA is strongly realting to these two factors, told here before. We have come far from the perception of design, which meant only luxurious and something that costs a lot.

When creating something totally new, the purpose of design is to arise a new need in a person. Good example of that is Sony Walkman. Before creating this product, people didn't really think, they would need to carry music with them when moving. However, after launching the product, there was no question about if it would be a success or not. Now people needed to get the music with them everywhere they went.

Design doesn't happen over-night. It needs lots of time and a concept like a "child-wonder" is not very common when talking about design. From the idea till the actual launching of a product, the time line can be tens of years. However, we have a exception here as well, if we consider music as design. Especially these days, when popular music changes so quickly, the time line has to be short, in order for it be succesfull.

The last question about design considered here is, if it is about passion or about money. Naturally, nothing is possible without finance. However, it is not possible to design anything really succesfull without the passion to do it. Basically, both are needed and the balance between design (idealism) and finance has to there. It is very fragile, but there is no way one could survive without another.

Post 2. Savoy vase by Alvar Aalto

Savoy vase by Alvar Aalto is an object that represents me the finnish design in its purest form. The shape of the vase is simple but extremely interesting. I think it reflects the water, because it reminds me of floating waves. Since in Finland we have more than 187 888 lakes, the vase represents deeply my perception of the finnish nature.

Post 1. Finnish nature

Hello everyone!

So this is my blog. It is about finnish design. I chose this subject, because I love my country and I also want to show you why it is so amazing. I think the environment people live in affects their way of thinking. Also, their way of thinking affects the kind of design they prefer. Finnish design is traditionally very restrained and down-to-earth. The colours are natural, not too bright, and the shapes are simple. I think this comes from the finnish nature - the most beautiful thing in the world.