Inside the Marimekko Print Archive
At Matter and Shape in Paris, the Finnish design house opens up its 75-year archive of prints, revealing how artists, colour kitchens and textile presses continue to shape one of design’s most recognisable visual languages
- Words Ayla Angelos
At Matter and Shape, the design salon running until 9 March at Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, Marimekko is doing something unusual for a fashion and lifestyle brand – it’s opening its print archive. For the first time, the Finnish company is publicly displaying more than 3,500 designs spanning 75 years – including newly developed prints from its current collections – allowing visitors to see the fabrics, swatches and artworks that underpin the joyful and optimistic visual language we all know and love today.Founded in 1951 by Armi Ratia, Marimekko built its reputation on an idea that textiles could be vehicles for art. But rather than treating pattern as decoration, the company invited artists
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