The Woman Behind One of the World's Most Famous Patterns

Lokki, Kaivo, Fandango, Unikko – the list of patterns that Maija Isola created during her thirty-eight years at the Finnish textile and design company Marimekko could go on and on. Isola's designs were so successful, colourful and creative that they quickly defined the typical Marimekko look we know and cherish today. Many of her designs are still popular and feel distinctly modern even though they were created several decades ago.

One person who appreciated Maija Isola's modern and bold designs in particular was Jackie Kennedy, who before the 1960 presidential campaign had bought seven cotton dresses from Marimekko. The company’s big breakthrough came when Jackie Kennedy wore one of their dresses on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The designer behind the light pink, sleeveless dress was Maija Isola.

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Isola was known for abandoning conservative floral designs in favour of bold, graphic forms. Her work was intended to break with traditional fashion cycles and instead pointed to a more lasting look. This was in line with the Marimekko brand, which was radical at the time with its simply-cut dresses that suited all body types and facilitated freedom and mobility. 

Maija Isola, born in 1927 in Riihimäki, Finland, studied at the Helsinki School of Art and Design between 1946-49. Her first job after university was at the company Printex, which manufactured textiles and was at the time owned by Viljo and Armi Ratia. It was Armi who led the development of Marimekko (Finnish for ‘Mary's dress) which was founded in 1951. 

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Isola, together with textile designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi, was the first full-time employee at Marimekko. Isola created colourful and abstract patterns, such as Appelsiini (1950), Kivet (1956) and Attika (1959). She drew inspiration for her work from traditional folk art, modern visual art, nature and from her countless travels around the world. Isola was a free spirit and travelled significantly, absorbing cultural influences that enriched her work.

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Isola reached the height of her career in 1964 when she drew the pattern Unikko, which arose when Armi Ratia forbade her designers to draw patterns with flowers in them. Ratia was tired of all the floral patterns and wanted something innovative. This defied Isola, who instead created what would become the company's most iconic pattern.

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It can be difficult to distinguish which flower is depicted in the graphic pattern. However, if you speak Finnish, you’ll know that ‘unikko’ means poppy. Isola's poppies are available in endless colour schemes and patterns in three different sizes: Mini Unikko, Pieni Unikko and Unikko. The most popular is Pieni Unikko, whose name means ‘small poppy’.

The asymmetrical shape, different colours and sharp contours made Unikko an immediate success, and it is still one of the brand's most popular designs. Together with the original colours in black and red, Marimekko releases new Unikko colour schemes every season. In 2020, one could find the pattern in the colour combinations light blue, beige and white.

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Someone who’s been involved in developing many of Marimekko's new colours is Maija Isola’s daughter Kristina. The two started working together in the ‘80s and when Maija passed away in March 2001, Kristina continued her mother's tradition and produced new colour schemes of her classic patterns.

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In the same year that Isola designed Unikko, she also created the patterns Seireeni and Kaivo, using inspiration from the sea and movement of water. A few years later, a love affair with the Egyptian teacher Ahmed Al-Haggagi led to a change of style. He encouraged her to work in Arabic patterns and that was when her Naamio and Tumma were created. 

Isola's design language, with its clear colours and patterns, blends well with the Scandinavian interior design style. In a bright and stylish environment, her patterns are given space to flourish.

She was an extremely versatile and bold textile artist who not only captured trends but also predicted future patterns. She is probably the most famous and productive designer who worked at the Finnish design and textile company. During her career, she created 533 patterns.

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Today, Isola's pattern books are an important part of the design process at Marimekko. Her handwritten books contain precise details about her pattern repetitions and are used as a guide for their products. Her comparisons include the Swedish textile artist Märta Måås-Fjetterström whose work has survived with the help of her sketches of hundreds of different patterns, and Josef Frank who, like Isola, drew colourful and nature-inspired textile patterns.

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In the autumn of 2021, Bukowskis and Marimekko arranged the online auction The Artists Who Shaped Us in connection with the textile and design company celebrating 70 years. Among the items for sale was a shirt dress in Vuokko Nurmesniemi's iconic pattern Piccolo and Armi Ratia's unique skirt Witch from the 1950s. 

Isola's designs are sold at auction for anything from fifty pounds to thousands of pounds. In November 2021, a folding screen dressed in Isola's pattern Lokki (1961) sold for €2,200 at the Finnish auction house Annmaris. 

The Unikko pattern can also be found at auction in the form of dresses, curtains and upholstery. Other popular patterns of Isola’s that appear at auction are Albatrossi, Joonas, Rakastaa, ei rakasta, Oona and Husaari. You can also find older colour schemes that are no longer in production and thus own a small part of Finnish design history. 

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