Maija Isola
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Maija Isola was a Finnish designer who caused a sensation above all with her best-known work: the legendary Unikko pattern, which she designed for Marimekko in the 1960s.
Born in 1927, textile designer Isola studied painting at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in Finland. After graduating in 1949, she began working as head designer at the Finnish textile company Printex. During this time, Isola created numerous textile patterns, used mainly for interiors. From 1951, Maija Isola's designs were also produced by Marimekko, which was founded as a sister company of Printex to bring the textile manufacturer's designs into fashion and interiors.
Maija Isola's designs are characterised by floral motifs, geometric shapes and strong, even colours. She often transferred patterns from her paintings to screen prints so that they could be reproduced and reach a wider audience. Her distinctive style made Isola one of Marimekko's few in-house designers.
Patterns such as Kaivo and the famous Unikko became the epitome not only of Isola's work but of an entirely new direction in Finnish design. This laid the foundation for the worldwide success of Maija Isola's patterns, far beyond Scandinavia. Her designs were – and still are – very popular as far afield as the USA.
