Majia Isola Biography
Maija Isola (1927-2001) is one of the most renowned designers of the Marimekko fashion house. The Finnish designer began creating fabrics in 1949 for Printex Oy, the company that later gave rise to Marimekko. Isola worked as Marimekko's interior fabric department manager until 1987, but has also had a distinguished career as a visual artist.
Maija Isola's versatility and courage allowed her to interpret the events of her time and predict future trends. The designer has designed over 500 patterns, offering a brilliant selection of designs spanning different themes and techniques. His sources of inspiration are traditional folk art, modern visual art, nature and the numerous trips he has made around the world.
Since the 1980s, Maija Isola has collaborated with her daughter Kristina Isola to create patterns on fabric. Together they created fresh floral, abstract and ornamental designs that have become Marimekko classics. After her mother's death in 2001, Kristina Isola continued her work, offering Maija Isola's classic designs in fascinating new colors.
The Unikko floral pattern is probably Maija Isola's best-known creation. This design was created in 1964, in response to the public announcement by Armi Ratia, founder of Marimekko, that the company would not produce fabrics with floral motifs. Maija Isola, who did not accept rules or limits, designed a complete collection of floral fabrics as a protest. Today, Unikko is probably more famous than ever and countless products with this motif can be found. Furthermore, the range of colors available is very wide.
In 2011, on the occasion of Marimekko's 60th anniversary, the Yhdessä fabric was created. This fabric is a combination of the most famous patterns of the famous Finnish designers Maija and Kristiina Isola, such as Unikko, Kaivo, Melooni, Tuuli, Putkinotko and many others. Yhdessä is a Finnish word meaning "together", and in fact in this fabric the various motifs are combined together in a splendid mix.
