SATU MAARANEN IS APPOINTED HEAD DESIGNER OF MARIMEKKO'S READY-TO-WEAR, BAGS AND ACCESSORIES


Marimekko Corporation, Press release, 7 December 2017 at 1.00 p.m.

Satu Maaranen has been appointed head designer of Marimekko's ready-to-wear, bags and accessories. She will take up her duties on 8 January 2018.

Satu Maaranen, a graduate of Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, is an international award-winning and experienced designer. In 2013, she won the Grand Prix at the highly prestigious Hyères Fashion Festival in France. She has also been awarded at the Finnish Elle Style Awards gala and at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Satu Maaranen has worked for a number of international brands, such as Petit Bateau of France and the Chinese Exception de Mixmind. She has designed clothes and prints for Marimekko since 2010. She is also one of the founders of Pre Helsinki, an organisation focusing on the internationalisation of Finnish fashion designers. 

In its stock exchange release of 27 February 2017, Marimekko announced it was seeking a new team leader for its design and product development function. The company has decided to transform its operating model in respect of design management. In the future, the direction and visual aspects of the design for Marimekko's ready-to-wear, bags and accessories will be the responsibility of Satu Maaranen. She will work in close cooperation with Minna Kemell-Kutvonen, who is in charge of Marimekko’s print design and home collection. Both will report to the President and CEO.

“We wanted to find the most suitable approach to design management for us. Marimekko is known as one of the world's first lifestyle brands, and our design has been based from the start on the idea of a community in which designers from different backgrounds create something new together. We believe this is still unique in our field. Satu Maaranen's highly international profile and experience, and – above all – her fresh and modern views on the direction of Marimekko's ready-to-wear, bag and accessory design were decisive factors in her selection. Satu's vision and ambition are exquisitely combined with her knowledge of our form idiom and our heritage of design. I believe that this combination will be a great asset as we build Marimekko internationally as a phenomenon that engages an ever-wider clientele,” says Marimekko's President and CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko.

“I’m excited about my appointment and having the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of pioneering Marimekko designers. Marimekko has always been a brand of strong, independent women, which makes it more relevant now than ever before. I have lots of ideas about how to continue to develop Marimekko’s collections for international clientele,” Satu Maaranen comments.

“Satu Maaranen, who was chosen from among several excellent international candidates, has the fresh vision and great passion to drive the development of the global relevance of Marimekko’s ready-to-wear, bag and accessory collections. She is already familiar with Marimekko’s creative community and has a deep knowledge of its art of print making, which I think is a major advantage,” says Rebekka Bay, a member of Marimekko’s Board of Directors.

MARIMEKKO CORPORATION
Corporate Communications

Piia Kumpulainen
Tel. +358 9 758 7293
piia.kumpulainen@marimekko.com

DISTRIBUTION:                          
Key media

Marimekko is a Finnish design company renowned for its original prints and colours. The company’s product portfolio includes high-quality clothing, bags and accessories as well as home décor items ranging from textiles to tableware. When Marimekko was founded in 1951, its unparalleled printed fabrics gave it a strong and unique identity. Marimekko products are sold in about 40 countries. In 2016, brand sales of the products worldwide amounted to EUR 199 million and the company's net sales were close to EUR 100 million. Roughly 160 Marimekko stores serve customers around the globe. The key markets are Northern Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. The Group employs about 400 people. The company’s share is quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. www.marimekko.com