This is how Rebekka Bay plans to modernise Marimekko

Throughout the long history of the Finnish heritage brand, one single idea has stood the test of time: At Marimekko, a dress has always been more than just a dress.

Marimekko has never been about fashion, but rather ideas and concepts. Armi Ratia – the brand’s indomitable founder famous for her joie de vivre and utopian outlook in a crumbling post-war Helsinki – was a free thinker, creating free clothing. The voluminous silhouettes she designed were a homage to the empowered women around her; The writers, painters, and academics who yearned for unfussy fashion linking form and function.

Since its infancy, the company has been egalitarian. Creating unisex clothing light years ahead of our modern gender-fluid movement, Armi Ratia was never a self-appointed herald of a particular style. Instead, she reduced fashion to a simple uniform for her fellow intellectuals, stating that Marimekko doesn’t sell clothing but a way of life. Her work was in design, not fashion, and what she was peddling were ideas rather than dresses.

Over the past year, Marimekko has gone through a metamorphic period – from appointing a new creative director to celebrating its 70th anniversary.

Rebekka Bay – the aforementioned new creative director – explains that the philosophies of the ineffable founder was one of the things that first drew her to the brand. “I find ideas, in the form of concepts, stories, techniques and materials, more important than short-lived trends or fast fashion,” she tells me. On Thursday, the designer showcased her debut Spring/Summer 2022 ready-to-wear collection for the brand in a digital presentation during Copenhagen Fashion Week, marking a new era for Marimekko.

Expanding on her initial attraction to the Finnish brand, she explains that, “Besides the obvious appeal - the vast and ever-inspiring print archive, the art of printmaking and bringing joy to people through optimistic colours and print – Marimekko has an amazing heritage. Seventy years of female leadership, inclusivity, creative collaboration and democratic design values.” She continues, “It is rare that you are awarded the opportunity to ‘handle’ such an extensive heritage. Such an important part of Finnish design history,”

Although Bay keeps a firm eye on the horizon ahead, the brand is still deeply rooted in its rich history. As part of the brand's 70th celebrations, Marimekko opened up its archive, selling a selection of 70 vintage pieces, ranging from the 1960s to the 2000s, to the brand’s beloved devotees. Dubbed Pre-Loved, the collection is part of the brand’s continued sustainability effort to prolong the lifespan of its garments and showcasing how timeless the designs truly are.

Over the past year, Bay and her team have invested a lot of effort and time to identify and develop archetype silhouettes and new fits for the Marimekko ready-to-wear collection to, as Bay puts it, “form perfect timeless canvasses for our prints”. Timelessness is a concept that infuses every aspect of Marimekko. "I remember picking up a couple of Marimekko dresses at a vintage fair in Florence, Italy, in my early 30s and musing over how modern they felt in both silhouette and print.” As current now as it was 70 years ago, a lasting silhouette is and always has been a core concept imbuing the brand with an inherently sustainable aim.

As the creative director of a multi-disciplinary brand, Bay oversees far more than just the ready-to-wear. She points out the importance of the brand's expression to come across all of the lines in a similar way. “Every season, we start with an idea – it can be in the form of a material, a piece of furniture or architecture, a pattern, an ‘ism or manifest,” she explains. Expanding on the collaborative work environment, Bay details how her team explores and challenges that one idea through materials, colours, prints and forms to create an all-encompassing brief for Marimekko’s different design lines.

For 2022, the overarching theme that permeates the brand is inspired by the similarities found in folk costumes around the globe. Fittingly titled ‘New Folk’, the focus on craftsmanship is found in silhouettes and techniques – through layering, pleating, gathering, quilting, patchwork and stitching. “We are finding inspiration in the colour harmonies, the pattern mixes, the simplicity and complexity of Folk,” Bay explains.

For Spring/Summer 2022, the ready-to-wear team and printmakers drew on the botanical world. Exploring plants, stems and petals in print and colours as well as the shapes and silhouettes. A petal might inspire a sleeve or a silhouette replicate a flower bud and just like that, the collection came to life.

According to Bay, the 70th anniversary was also the perfect opportunity to reflect on the brand's future.

Certain aspects of the brand radiates innovation – from the recent introduction of Finnish indigo and other natural dyes as well as collaboration with artists, graphic and print designers and material innovators. “I will continue the work that has already gone into modernising the Marimekko brand, ensuring that the brand is as relevant today as it was when it was founded 70 years ago.” Bay adds, “I would also like for us to both exaggerate and simplify. I want to make ideas, concepts and storytelling more evident and important. More playful, bolder and confident, while still delivering timeless, wearable and combinable collections.”

“We are constantly innovating and evolving, introducing new prints and new materials," Bay explains. According to Bay, the fashion industry has no choice but to become more sustainable – and for the change to happen urgently. Bay believes that timeless and sustainable products will be made in line with the principles of the circular economy and with full transparency in the future. "Most importantly, my ambition is to address sustainability through every touchpoint," she explains. "To consolidate and create modularity in the designs. To address longevity and timelessness, to utilise organic, recycled and up-cycled materials where possible," she explains. "That’s where we are headed now.”

At Marimekko, the future is – and always has been – female. And in this new era for the brand, it is also inherently innovative. With renewed sustainable efforts, and a continued commitment to timeless design, this is how Rebekka Bay will modernise Marimekko.