When I was living in Sweden a few yers back, I found a Finnish design house called "Marimekko". The prints are unmistakable; bright, colorful, timeless in my opinion! The uses are endless; upholstery, wallpaper, indoor/outdoor, and garment making. Marimekko is surely a design house set apart. The story goes like this:
"Marimekko was founded in 1951 by Viljo and Armi Ratia, after the former's oilcloth factory project failed and was converted to a garment plant. Armi asked some artist friends to apply their graphic designs to textiles. In order to show how the fabric could be used, the company then designed and sold a line of simple dresses using their fabric. It came as an early recognition of fashion as an industrial art and of Marimekko's role in the process when Finland's leading industrial designer Timo Sarpaneva invited the company to present a fashion show (albeit canceled at short notice) at the 1957 Triennale in Milan. The garments were eventually showcased in the nearby Rinascente upscale department store under its then store display manager Giorgio Armani.
Marimekko was first introduced to the United States by the architect Benjamin C. Thompson, who featured them heavily in his Design Research stores. They were made famous in the United States by Jacqueline Kennedy, who bought eight Marimekko dresses which she wore throughout the 1960 US Presidential campaign."
http://www.marimekko.com/
