Marimekko Unikko Print

Marimekko's Unikko poppy print was designed by Maija Isola in 1964 as an act of defiance. The company's founder Armi Ratia had declared that Marimekko would never print flowers, and Isola went ahead and designed the most recognizable floral pattern of the 20th century. Applied to fabric, tableware, bags. IPhone cases in the 60 years since, the print remains immediately identifiable at any scale because the shapes are so bold that they read clearly whether the repeat is 2 inches or 2 feet. Specific genius of Unikko is that the flowers are abstracted just enough to feel modern but representational enough to be understood as poppies. Colorways range from the classic red and pink to seasonal variations in mustard, teal, and black on white. Noticing the print in different contexts is part of what makes it interesting: a tote bag on the subway, a set of plates in a kitchen store, a shower curtain in a hotel in Helsinki. Each application tests whether the pattern can survive a new surface and a new scale, and it almost always does.