marimekko

Some sad news... Fashion designer Riitta Immonen, co-founder of Marimekko, has died at the age of 90.

Marimekko is one the most interesting and iconic fabric design companies I've encountered. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

Riitta Immonen started Marimekko with her friend Armi Ratia back in 1951, when she was 33 years old and Armi was 39. And the rest is history. It's pretty inspiring thinking about how people get their starts and what can happen. I wonder if they knew back then that Marimekko would be a an enterprise that continues to grow and inspire people so many years later?

You can read a bit more about Riitta and her co-founder Armi Ratia on wikipedia.

Pictured here are some of the new Marimekko prints for Fall 2008, designed by Teresa Moorhouse, Kristina Isola and Erja Hirvi, respectively.