Artek and Marimekko just came together for a new collection that’s the epitome of Finnish design excellence.
Artek, a furniture company founded in 1935, partnered with the design house and printmaker Marimekko to ring in Artek’s 90th anniversary. The collaboration takes three of Artek’s most iconic designs—the Stool 60, Bench 153B, and Table 90D—and pairs them with equally iconic Marimekko prints, transforming Artek’s minimal birchwood surfaces into a kind of art canvas. The stool, bench, and table retail for $550, $1,240, and $1,255, respectively, and are available for a limited time on both retailers’ websites and through select dealers.
The collection brings together the two legacy Finnish brands’ decades of expertise in their fields, serving as an example of how both are leveraging collaborations to reach new audiences.
Leveraging brand collaborations
For both Artek and Marimekko, brand collaborations have served as a lever for tapping new customers both outside of Finland and among a younger generation of design enthusiasts.
In recent years, Marimekko has expanded its reach through partnerships with brands ranging from Crocs and Target to Uniqlo and the Finnish jeweler Kalevala. Artek, meanwhile, has worked with the English fashion designer Paul Smith and, as another branch of its 90-year celebration, is teaming up with the beloved children’s brand Moomin.
In a press release, Marianna Goebl, Artek’s managing director, shared that Marimekko and Artek are an “obvious match”—but that the collaboration’s outcome is “anything but.”
“We have woven together our respective identities, creative visions, and core expertise to create something truly unexpected,” Goebl said. “The collection is one of bold yet subtle beauty.”
A “truly unexpected” collection
Artek and Marimekko have existed within each others’ creative orbits since the mid-20th century. In fact, the companies’ founders knew each other personally: In 1975, Marimekko founder Armi Ratia wrote to Artek founder Alvar Aalto to share, “I will always be proud of you here in Finland and also in the outside world.” Despite a long relationship, this is the first time the brands have come together on a line of co-created products.
“We are both brands with bold and distinct identities that have been shaped by architecture, nature, and human-centric pragmatism,” said Rebekka Bay, Marimekko’s creative director. “To me, this collaboration really highlights our shared values and celebrates the most distilled parts of our respective crafts while also bringing something surprising and unexpected to our customers.”
For the furniture launch, Artek used three prints from Marimekko’s Arkkitehti series, a collection of bold patterns that Ratia commissioned from designer Maija Isola between 1959 and 1964. The prints (called Lokki, Kivet, and Seireeni) feature curving, organic patterns that Isola sourced from nature.
Where Marimekko’s work typically uses high-octane color to bring patterns to life, Artek has employed a marquetry technique to emboss them onto its most recognizable bentwood furniture pieces—allowing the Finnish birch itself to illuminate the shapes.
“For Marimekko, the dress acts as the canvas for our art of printmaking, and in our collaboration with Artek, the birchwood furniture became the canvas for our prints,” Bay said.
The product is a series of furniture that manages to strike a balance between Artek’s sleek minimalism and Marimekko’s loud, joyful aesthetic.