Marimekko CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko on her plans for making the Finnish brand bloom

In 2024, Finnish fashion and lifestyle brand Marimekko will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its iconic Unikko print, which features large-scale, asymmetrical poppies, originally rendered in red and in blue. But it’s a print that might not have existed if not for the daring of one of the company’s textile designers, says Marimekko CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, speaking to The Peak before the official opening of the brand’s new store at Ion Orchard.

Speaking rapidly and energetically, the 42-year-old Finn shares, “Our founder, Armi Ratia, had actually forbidden Marimekko designers from creating floral prints, because she felt that flowers would always be more beautiful in nature. But this famous Marimekko designer, Maija Isola, felt strongly about creating something inspired by flowers, and she did something completely different from the small, romantic flower prints that everybody else was doing then. She created Unikko, an avant-garde, simplified expression of a flower. And that completely changed our founder’s mind.”

Just like Isola and Ratia (who founded Marimekko in 1951) before her, Alahuhta-Kaso is a strong-willed female who is taking the company to greater heights. After becoming CEO eight years ago, her focus has been on modernising the company and its offerings, as well as growing its overseas presence.

Revenues have steadily grown, with an operating profit of 30.2 million euros (44.2 million Singapore dollars) last year, up from 5.2 million euros when she took over in 2016. Here, the dynamo tells us about why Marimekko has such personal meaning for her, heading “one of the world’s first real lifestyle brands”, and returning to our shores.

Is there anything about the new Marimekko store that is unique to Singapore?

Its cafe. Marimekko was started in 1951 by our founder, Armi Ratia, who wanted to bring energy and optimism to people. It is one of the world’s first real lifestyle brands because, since the beginning, we had fashion, home, bags and accessories. She has said that Marimekko could have taken other forms — it could have been a flower shop or an ice cream shop.

What mattered was that it would bring joy. With this lifestyle-oriented thinking, we found it natural to expand the experience into a cafe, especially because the cafe culture in Singapore is very vibrant.

There was a Marimekko store at Capitol Piazza from 2015 to 2018. Why did it close?

Basically, our partner then exited this market completely, and that’s the reason we left. But Singapore has always remained an important market for us. We’re very excited that we have, together with (Thailand’s) Tanachira Group, decided to expand into Singapore together.

Marimekko has been on an Asian expansion drive over the past few years. What are the main differences in what audiences here are interested in, versus western customers?

Something we consider very pragmatically is the climate, understanding that we are a lifestyle brand with fashion as the spearhead. We come from Finland, where we have four distinct seasons and very cold winters, so seasonality is a big consideration. We approach this by building modularity into our collections — keeping in mind the importance of flexible layering and how people style their outfits. This modularity allows us to tap into local consumer needs, or occasions and celebrations, but always in a way that connects with our core collection.

You became CEO of Marimekko in 2016, but you actually first joined the company in 2005, and even before that, had served as a summer intern. What makes the brand so special to you?

Being born and raised in Finland, Marimekko is the most famous fashion and lifestyle design company. As a teenager, I was already into fashion and design. So when I was studying in business school, it was an obvious move for me to apply for an internship at Marimekko. What made a huge impact on me was the company culture.

Of course, its aesthetic and design thinking was something that I already appreciated. But even as a 21-year-old student, I was trusted with quite a lot of responsibilities and was given many opportunities to learn about the industry and the business. I felt that its culture was empowering and authentic.

Since you took the reins, the brand’s revenues have been growing, and you have been credited with revitalising the brand. What is the most significant change that you have implemented at the company?

Our brand has a beautiful history, starting from 1951. Today, consumers are looking for brands and entities that they find meaningful, that have roots, and that resonate with their own values and preferences. That became even more pronounced during the pandemic. It’s important to ensure that the DNA and ethos of the brand are always translated in a way that is timeless, yet relevant for our consumers of today and tomorrow.

Some years ago, we embarked on a bold modernisation journey. Together with our staff, we peeled the onion in terms of the brand, to really understand what is at the very core of our DNA. Then, we crafted a vision for the future. Headed by our creative director Rebekka (Bay), we found a really good recipe for that. For example, we introduced the Kioski streetwear segment, which connects our most iconic prints with unisex streetwear, which is relevant and easy to approach.

Aside from your long-time artist collaborations, Marimekko has partnered with varied companies Finnair, Adidas and Ikea. How have the nature of collaborations for Marimekko evolved over the years?

There’s a historical aspect. Our whole creative philosophy has been based on the idea of a creative community. Our founder believed that bringing people together from different areas of culture, art, architecture, fashion, resulted in the most interesting new ideas. Today, we have a creative community at our headquarters, where we also have our printing factory and specialists. The brand collaborations are a natural extension of this.

In addition to the big, global collaborations with brands like Adidas and Uniqlo, we have also introduced collaborations with artists into our own collections. We’ve also done smaller-scale ones: Last year, we worked with Mansur Gavriel, more for the North American market. So aside from top-level collaborations, we can also do regional and local ones. These are all very important in terms of introducing our brand to new audiences, and building our brand story and visibility.