95/204/1 Dress, womens, cotton, Marimekko, Finland, 1968

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95/204/1 Dress, womens, cotton, Marimekko, Finland, 1968

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Object statement

Dress, womens, cotton, Marimekko, Finland, 1968

Production notes

Designed by Marimekko. Marimekko is one of the best known names in 20th century textile design. Established in the late 1940s in Helsinki by the Ratia family the design director Armi Ratia sought to create an individual range of non figurative textile fabrics. As the market for their bold bright designs was at first slow Ratia decided to popularise the cotton fabrics through a range of made up dresses which were eventually so successful they remained part of the production. Marimekko designs are characterised by bold patterns and strong saturated colours. During the 1950s-1970s they developed strong markets in Scandinavia, the USA and Australia. The company rather than turning to the new technologies available chose to work with the traditional processes of hand screenprinting, maintaining the mark of the hand crafted in their product.

Made in 1968 and used as late as 1986.

History notes

Worn by Darani Lewers. She purchased the dress from the Marimekko outlet in Helsinki, Finland. She met the owner and director of Marimekko who helped her select the fabric and dress style. Darani Lewers specified that she wanted the dress cut with a large orange spot on the back. She wore the dress with no makeup, no bra and a bob.
The dress was later given to Darani's daughter Pia Larsen who wore it c.1986.
The dress was initially purchased and worn by Darani Lewers, she later passed it onto her daughter Pia Larsen, the donor.

This text content licensed under CC BY-NC.

Description

Dress with belt, womens, cotton, Marimekko, Finland, 1968.
Loose fitting A line mini dress with boat neckline and elbow length sleeves, printed with bold abstract design in black, brown, purple and orange. Hem has been handsewn. Narrow tie belt of same fabric. Black fabric label: washing and care instructions. Black fabric label 'Marimekko/SUOMI - FINLAND/36'.

Designed: Marimekko; Finland

Made: Marimekko; Finland; 1968

Used: Lewers, Darani; Australia

Used: Larsen, Pia; Australia

Owned: Lewers, Darani; Australia

Marks

Black fabric label: 'marimekko/SUOMI - FINLAND/36'. Black fabric label: Care and washing instructions.

Registration number

95/204/1

Height

885 mm

Width

490 mm

This text content licensed under CC BY-SA.

Acquisition credit line

Gift of Pia Larsen, 1994

Subjects

+ Textile design
+ Textile manufacturing
+ Fashion

Short persistent URL

Concise link back to this object: http://from.ph/143668

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{{cite web |url=http://from.ph/143668 |title=95/204/1 Dress, womens, cotton, Marimekko, Finland, 1968 |author=Powerhouse Museum |accessdate=20 June 2013 |publisher=Powerhouse Museum, Australia}}

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