Marimekko colors it happy for spring

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STORY: From Finland, with love: Marimekko brought its happy colors and bold prints for Spring 2013 to the runway for its New York debut on Monday (September 10) at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFW).

Noora Niinikoski, head of fashion design at Marimekko said the time was right for the iconic label to show at New York fashion week for the first time, hoping to make a "global fashion statement".

The design house used bright yellow, orange, red, blue, turquoise and purple in unexpected ways in its Spring 2013 collection. Black and white, a Marimekko tradition, looked fresh in big stripes and marshmallow-sized polka dots.

The clothes - minimalist styles like A-line shift dresses - looked like Pop-Art paintings that came to life on the runway.

The timing of Marimekko's New York fashion week debut follows its expansion in the United States, with the opening of a flagship store on New York's Fifth Avenue. Last year, Marimekko showed at fashion week in Japan.

The label is known for both fashion and home décor, including bedding, dishes and pillows.

Marimekko was founded by a woman, Armi Ratia, in 1951 in Helsinki. She used the designs of women artists to make bold prints in bright colors - in contrast to Finland's gray landscape in the years after World War II. In May 1951, Armi Ratia put on the first Marimekko fashion show in Helsinki to promote the company's chic dresses.

In 1960, Jacqueline Kennedy put Marimekko on the American fashion map. She bought dresses in the iconic Marimekko colors and prints to wear on the campaign trail with her husband, John F. Kennedy.