Four young designers.
Leftover fabrics.
Unique design for Marimekko.
MARIMEKKO PROTO

PROTO was born when Marimekko wanted to give young designers a chance to create something exciting for Marimekko. Noora Niinikoski, the Head of Fashion Design of Marimekko, also wanted to see what kind of unique design could be created from the company's leftover fabrics. The young talents, Riikka Buri, Yonna Moriya, Elina Määttänen and Emmakaisa Soisalo, were free to design their own collections which turned out to be very different from each other. The collections captivate and amaze with their playfulness, inspirations picked from different periods and brave combinations of different materials. The collections reflect the love for stripes and chocolate licorice and peach candy, the balance between psychedelia and harmony, the 70s classic Great Gatsby movie and 90s rap music and lines and silhouettes drawn with a black marker.

"The reason why we started this project was to open-mindedly try what we could create from the leftover fabrics of Marimekko. I chose four young designers and gave them an open brief. The designers led their projects very independently from choosing the fabrics to scetching and making patterns. They also worked very closely with Marimekko's sewing professionals who in the end made the products. We also made a very nice video about the project. The models and the set were styled by the designers themselves. Most of all, PROTO challenged our young talents to design their own Marimekko. Boldly, out of the box," says Noora Niinikoski, Head of Fashion Design of Marimekko.

PROTO video directed by Miikka Lommi.