First, this year it's Marimekko's 60th anniversary. And it just happens that I will be going to Helsinki again (something like the nth time...) later this year *g*. I admit, on my first visit, which was comparatively short, I didn't pay a lot of attention to them - somehow. It's not an easy thing, as their shops, and products, are pretty much everywhere in Helsinki. The second time around though, it was a different story. I went there together with my mom, and of course the hobby seamstress in here was quick to spot one of their shops on the Esplanadi, and we came home with quite a lot of fabric. The beautiful thing about Marimekko is, they don't just sell their own clothes line and all sorts of home products with their textile designs - they sell just the cotton fabrics too! There's many a beautiful summer frock made from Marimekko fabric in my mom's closet - and a few things have made it to my closet too. They fabrics on offer are a mix of new and of classic fabrics, and often they will do a classic fabric in new color variations too. Six years ago, the Design Museum in Helsinki held an exhibtion on Maija Isola who was responsible for such iconic designs as the Unikko poppies. They published a wonderful book on her for the occasion - bound in Marimekko fabric of course. Now they are holding a Marimekko exhibition - sadly, it ends before I'm going, but if anyone will be in Helsininki fore it ends, I can only recommend it, as it will certainly be very interesting - and have lots of eye candy on display! However, I will certainly pop in and by the book they just published to tie in with the exhibition.
Looking around at my apartment, the typical Marimekko things are everywhere...
In the kitchen...
In the bathroom...
Ties in perfectly with the yellow and orange color scheme that makes my dowdy brown and beige bathroom look sunny and bright!In my closet...
I'd known the Unikko pattern before, just from seeing it somewhere, but without know what it was or where it came from. But as I knew more about it and had seen it on every possible article in Finland, I knew I wanted a simple 60s style short shift dress made from the classic big red Unikko print! Mom made this for me, and it kept me cool and looking chic through many a job interview in the unforgettable heat of summer '03.
The big Ananas pattern print looks great on a circle skirt. It shows the print to it's full advantage.
Of the remaining fabric from the skirt (which my mom made), I made a pair of shorts. The backside is plain pink, cut from the wide border that was left out when the pieces from the skirt were cut, where of course I had wanted the pattern to show. For the shorts, the pattern may seem a bit big, but I like it in "macro" too! It just happened that the only way to cut the pieces for these was this way, and I think it looks great. I call these my "Hawaiian shorts" as they remind me of Hawaiian print fabrics.In short, one can have Marimekko everywhere, and their designs look great on all sorts of things... tableware, bed sheets, bags, table cloths, baby bibs (those are really great, by the way, as more than one friend with kids has told me!) - you name it, they got it. It makes everyday life a bit more colorful and bright - now, isn't that a good thing?
On another note, there's another serious case of eye candy one shouldn't miss: a new exhibition at the Textile Museum in St. Gallen, simply titled "St.Gall". The exhibition focuses on the history of lace from St. Gallen, and the photos on their website already look very enticing! The theme of the exhibition reminds me a bit of the Landesmuseum's "Bling Bling" exhibition from a few years ago, though in this one, the focus is probably a bit more on history and on lace. I think there will be a lot to see there for the vintage fashion nerd within me *g*. But of course, lace is always fascinating. I visited the lace museum in Brussels a few years ago - it's not a "showy" place, but they have loads of lace from centuries ago on display, and I found myself so engrossed in looking at these works of art... So I can't wait to see this exhibition. The last one I saw at the textile museum, on lingerie, was beautifully done - and big. I expect this one to be just as good. I will certainly report!
No comments:
Post a Comment