Marimekko Returns to New York
office had a chance to hear from Rebekka Bay, Creative Director of Marimekko, who is taking the brand into the future with changes that both respect and evolve the house heritage.
This store was announced with the closing of the flagship in the Flatiron District last year. How does this new location in Soho speak to the essence of the new space?
This new store concept in Soho is designed to embody Marimekko’s optimistic and creative lifestyle philosophy. For those unfamiliar with Marimekko, it is a brand that is quite hard to pin down in one category – we have always walked our own path in the boundaries between fashion, design, art, and architecture. Back in the 1970s, our founder used to say that Marimekko could have equally taken any other form than the art of printmaking: It could have been a flower shop, architecture, or even modern jazz. Whatever we did needed to bring joy and empowerment to people. Now, in New York, we are building on that foundation with a new store designed to host inspiring visual activations and regular, even surprising events together with local creatives. We want to bring the Marimekko experience to life in a hyper-local context, and Soho felt like a natural choice as it feels like a very local neighborhood. It is full of buzz but is still walkable. It feels both familiar and very New York.
Are there any themes that grounded the approach to designing this new store?
Our theme for the store concept is “work-in-progress". The space is an ever-evolving concept and experience, which is most visible in the wooden grid that surrounds the interior of the store, much like the foundation of a building. The grid allows us to move things around easily, to test and evolve the space over time. The space also takes inspiration from the Shaker movement. In essence, we wanted to create a space that is inviting and easy to approach, reflecting our values of embracing authenticity, inclusivity, and equality.
What was the most memorable part of the design process?
For the space, we collected lesser-known Finnish vintage furniture pieces that are both pragmatic and sculptural – the beginning of an ever-expanding collection. In addition to that, we have brought in industrial trolleys from our Helsinki textile printing factory, which is at the heart of the brand in many ways.
How does this store fit into the Marimekko design philosophy?
Marimekko has never been about trends, but rather about relevancy in time through creative dialogue, both on and off product-level. In addition to allowing the space to be easily transformed, the idea of a modular store also reflects the way we build our collections. Our goal is to create designs that help our customers build a capsule wardrobe consisting of timeless pieces they do not want to throw away, but rather that that they can mix and match over the years.
What are some of your favorite decor, design, or architectural elements in the new store?
The space is very honest, no fuss and functional, which are all typical features of both Finnish design and the Marimekko way of designing. Sustainability in material choices was a key consideration in the design process, highlighting especially the importance of durability, reusability, and recyclability of materials. One of my favorite design choices from the store are the Moderno stools by Finnish design icon Yrjö Kukkapuro, which reference the colors found in Marimekko’s textile printing factory in Helsinki. We have the mesmerizing electric blue used in the silk screen frames, we have the bright red from handrails and the sunstruck yellow from the factory stairs.
What does it mean for this store to be a "work-in-progress"?
It means that it will live and evolve over time in dialogue with New York and its inhabitants. Accepting a work-in-progress mindset allows our creativity to expand and evolve. In addition to being a store, the space will act as a venue for different kinds of creative encounters and events. This weekend for example, we will host a holiday table setting workshop with Flynn McGarry, a New York based chef we admire.
Finally, what is your vision for the new store and how does it fit into the future of Marimekko?
We believe that people around the world share the same desire to find joy in the small and big things in everyday life. Even in the digitalized world, creative and experiential physical retail concepts have an important role as the hearts of brand culture. New York represents one of the most important cities in the global fashion industry, having a wider impact for building brand awareness and positioning which also extends to our other key markets. Ultimately, I hope that this space would become a creative hub for Marimekko’s community, and a New York destination for fun and meaningful creative exchanges.
