Thoughts on Marimekko’s fall 2016

I liked Marimekko’s fall 2016 collection. But I have to admit also feeling disappointed on it. Why? 

After being quite impressed on this spring’s collection and feeling that the collection is moving into the right direction (fabric-, item- and print-wise) I couldn’t help thinking that the latest collection introduced isn’t moving forward. And actually quite the contrary. 

There were the puffer coats, the new cut for the Jokapoika -shirt, the busy red-on-red (and grey-on-grey) print, the poppy-meets-camo print on soft wool -all of which I didn’t quite understand. I personally loved the orange flower-print although it must be quite hard to sell.

One of my favourites, the quilted cotton (pictured above) was a lovely surprise introducing more volume and a slight avant-gardeness however the problem for me is with the fabric. This is a material that has been by used Marimekko in past but it’s crying for an update. The cotton lacks finesse and a bit of finesse is exactly what Marimekko needs for the runway collection. Imagine the same quilted items (the v-neck top, the pants) in a finer fabric, with a touch of shine? That could be gorgeous and a nice contrast!

As for the highlights – the grey abstract line print made me gasp my breath, especially the pants! (Really keeping my fingers crossed for smaller sizing or adding size 32!). The sleeves of the light pink shirt and dress felt fresh as did the jewellery by Ilenia Corti.

The company is renowned for it’s bold and colourful prints and this is where the power lies. I, and I’m thinking I’m not alone here, want clean lines, impeccable (and complimenting) colour & print combinations and the fore-mentioned bit of finesse. With Marimekko’s own archive, there’s plenty of which to work with. 

Not being a writer, this is one of those posts where you really wish you did ok with wording your thoughts. To make it clear – I love and adore Marimekko, but the collection – It’s just not quite there yet.