Designer Labels
I have started my Manchester cotton trade research online and have been really impressed with the MOSI website. Searching through all the menus I am really excited to see how big the collections are and how creative they are at communicating them. From looking on the website I would like to look at the working manuals and trade literature from the mills. I would love to handle samples of printed cotton and was really taken with the woven labels. Each woven label is a picture, aesthetically much more sophisticated than a clothes label you might see today. The picture represented the trademark of the exported goods, which reflected where the products were sent. This meant the products are instantly recognised with less need for too many words or language. I have fallen in love with this Behrens shipper’s label. It reminds me of my performance characters and I wonder how they researched the details within the image with no google search to tap into. From the markings it looks like goods were transported to China.
I intend to create a costume that will mash together traditional and modern design references from Manchester and Finland. The most famous and well-known fabric designers in Finland are Marimekko. I was introduced to this fabulous world of colour and print by my Finnish artist friend Anna Puhakka and visited the flagship store in Helsinki in 2011.
‘In 1962 Armi Ratia, the founder of Marimekko, defined Marimekko as “a cultural phenomenon guiding the quality of living”. She built a utopia called Marikylä (“Marimekko Village”), whose aim was no less than to house the staffs and to function as a laboratory for product design and to develop new ways of life. This year Marimekko will bring to life the Marimekko Village of today.’ (https://www.marimekko.com/marimekko/history)
Marimekko Core Values
Living, not pretending
Fairness to everyone and everything
Common sense
Getting things done together
Courage, even at the risk of failure
Joy
