In Pictures: Marimekko takes Tokyo for Unikko print’s 60th anniversary year

When fashion and tech platform Rakuten launched its ‘by R’ initiative back in 2020, the concept was initially based around supporting and encouraging the return of homegrown talent to their roots of Japan, putting on an international pedestal established names that have globally surfaced in the midst of the local industry. However, like all good concepts, the idea has naturally evolved over time, alongside its coinciding fashion week in Tokyo that has also continued to reinforce a mission of global connection.

As such, this year’s ‘by R’ participant was revealed to be the Finnish lifestyle brand Marimekko, which strayed from its usual Copenhagen Fashion Week turf – though it opted to still show for the AW24 season – to take on the new setting of Tokyo. The label was named as the core act for Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo (FWT), contributing to the event and its headline sponsor’s efforts to push for international appeal while thrusting Marimekko into the limelight for consumers in the region.

The brand, and its creative director, Rebekka Bay, brought its AW24 collection to the runway, the same looks that it had previously presented in Copenhagen weeks before, but to a new crowd that was likely not able to make the lengthy trip over to the Danish capital. One thing that did differ, however, was the exploration of Japanese and Nordic design heritage, present in the set-up of the show in which guests were seated on vintage Artek chairs.

For Marimekko, Japan is one of two biggest countries for business

Down the runway, located in The Hyokeikan Tokyo National Museum, traversed 30 looks that took the form of everyday staples, ranging from printed shift dresses to baggy trousers and puffed up outerwear. Akin to its Copenhagen show, Marimekko once again exhibited its first-ever denim line, ‘Marimekko Maridenim’, made following the guidelines of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and applied to straight-cut jeans, wide trousers and matching shirts.

It also marked the launch of an exclusive capsule collection with Rakuten Fashion, which came as a further celebration of the brand’s 60th anniversary of its Unikko design, a poppy print that has become a recognisable symbol of Marimekko since the brand’s designer Maija Isola had first created it. The collection with the fashion tech platform includes a series of unisex styles and home interior products that put the print to the forefront, “playing with the idea of dressing up and dressing down”, Bay explained in a release.

While Marimekko’s decision to partner with Rakuten may have been encouraged by the platform’s supporting programme, its choice to exhibit at FWT and cater to the Japanese audience also aligns with the fact that, next to Finland, Japan is the company’s biggest single country for business. It is here that Marimekko currently operates 40 stores, a figure that could potentially grow as part of the brand’s ongoing strategy to increase its presence in Asia throughout the period of 2023 to 2027.

In fact, this was only reaffirmed in Marimekko’s latest financial report, in which CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko said that such expansion had been backed by a “strong brand fit and proven track record with the loose franchise partnership model providing a good foundation” for omnichannel growth. Throughout 2023, for example, net sales in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 17 percent, driven by a move into new markets; Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. This was compared to a 1 percent growth in its homeland of Finland, a 20 percent increase in North America and a drop of 9 percent in the EMEA region.