A mighty Finnish design era came out of the rubble of WWII and was granted decisive impetus by the International Triennial's of 1951 and 1954 which clearly set up the concept of Finnish design. By officially blending design into production, materials from Marimekko had achieved international consideration with their distinguishing of a select market receptive to the large Finnish design look.

Armi and Vilji Ratia were the founders of Marimekko way back in 1951. Since that time, the corporation has become famous for manufacturing superior fabrics both for covering furniture (möbler) and for use in making apparel. The true beginning of the Finnish firm, however, dates back to 1949, when it acquired the Printex-Oy plant located just outside Helsinki. Once it was renovated to suit the company's purposes, it brought back the method of manually silk-screening on cotton sheeting.

This approach, distinguished by its resultant irregularities and duplicated patterning, made every design appear hand-made. While production methods have long since been automated, the corporation still prints to a level of manually-produced quality. By utilizing its distinctive patterns and natural fibers, it underscored its commitment to Scandinavia's love of nature.

With Armi as its design director, the firm moved away from the standard approach of the other fabric designers in Finland at that time, utilizing an assortment of patterns which incorporated the abstract graphics of various artists rather than realistic images. Their original collection of basic women's dresses, which debuted in the city of Helsinki back in 1951, was a means of showcasing the corporation's printed cottons.

Wraparound and front-button garments were included, thus accentuating textiles instead of styling. This collection was known as Marimekko, blending the old-fashioned Finnish girl name Maria and the word mekko, describing a tow shirt, open in the back and then worn as if it were a pinafore. Since that time, "Maria's little dress" expanded into home furnishing textiles, with some international licensing agreements begun in 1968 for bedding, wall covering, decorative fabric, table linens, paper products, furniture (möbler), kitchen ware, glassware, ceramics, and rugs.

By the end of the 20th century, Marimekko had engineered a major comeback in the U.S., with fabric and interior design (inredning) (for both indoor and outdoor use), wall coverings, bed linens, rugs and much more available to American buyers through a series of licenses. Though not as well known in America as many other textiles firms, Marimekko's bold, simple, classic print designs and characteristic use of color have established a permanently recognizable and highly individualistic identity that remains to this day.