Armi Ratia The name Marimekko is a play on words, yet completely descriptive. Mari’ is an anagram of the first name of the company’s founder, Armi Ratia,while ‘mekko’ means ‘dress’ in Finnish.
Gunnel Nyman was born in Turku in 1909 and began studying furniture design at the predecessor of the modern University of Art and Design Helsinki in 1928. Her career stretched only 16 years, from her first designs for the Riihimäki glassworks in 1932 to her last for the Nuutajärvi glassworks in 1948.