Travel
STYLEetc in Shanghai.
Marimekko and Finnair invited us to celebrate the announcement of a design and fashion collaboration at Shanghai Radical Design Week
When Finnair invited STYLEetc to China to experience first hand their design collaboration with Finnish fashion and lifestyle brand Marimekko, we couldn’t refuse! So we sent our new editor Gemma off to Shanghai for the weekend to find out what all the fuss is about!
Here in the UK Marimekko is not (yet) a household name, but in Finland it is an institution. Founded 61 years ago, the Finns are proud and embracing of this home-grown company. I know this because I was sat next to lovely Finnish journalist Laura Kangasluoma on the plane, and she explained to me the affinity Finnish people have with this brand. According to Laura everyone in Finland has some Marimekko in their homes, be it clothing, textiles or tableware.
The collaboration launch began at Helsinki airport. We were invited to enjoy a pre-flight drink in the Finnair Lounge whilst admiring the delightfully bold and colourful Marimekko ‘poppy’ adorned Airbus A340, which would transport us to Shangahi and is now operating on routes between Helsinki and Asia.
Upon boarding, we were greeted in business class with a glass of champagne, Marimekko-patterned pillows and blankets, and an announcement that there would be a surprise after take-off! Once up in the air, the surprise was revealed - our poppy plane was also the world’s first ever ‘catwalk in the sky’! The cabin crew paraded the aisles wearing Marimekko clothing, whilst music played and a look-book style video showed on the TV screens. The fashion show concluded to rapturous applause from the passengers. The clothes were stylish and colourful on the flight attendants and it felt as though Finnair, who will celebrate their ninetieth birthday next year, were putting some of the glamour back into flying.
Dinner was a specially designed menu featuring traditional Finnish delicacies served to us on cheery blue and green patterned Marimekko tableware. For this special flight the food was prepared on board and was more fine-dining than plane cuisine! Washed down with a few glasses of wine, we snuggled up in our Marimekko blankets and reclining seats to watch movies and get some sleep ahead of the activities planned for us on arrival in Shanghai!
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After squeezing in as much sightseeing as possible in the short time we had (see my Shanghai Scrapbook overleaf), it was time for the launch party! Early Saturday evening, we headed over to MoCA (Shanghai’s Museum of Contemporary Art) in the beautiful People’s Park, for the Finnair/ Marimekko press conference and fashion show.
Following speeches from Mika Vehviläinen, CEO of Finnair, and the charismatic CEO of Marimekko, Mika Ihamuotila, Finnair’s glamorous cabin crew made a second appearance to present the Marimekko for Finnair collection of textiles and tablewear, which will be in use on all Finnair aircraft, from spring 2013.
After the press conference I caught a few words with designer Sami Ruotsalainen who told me he had used retro prints from the Marimekko archive, in colours to represent the landscape of Finland as seen from the air - blue green and grey. He also explained he had created the tableware designs from a new and innovative lightweight material, which would play its part in reducing the airline’s carbon footprint.
Heading outside again, we were met by a sea of brightly coloured Marimekko print beanbags and invited to take our seats for the fashion show.
The show was a delight from start to
finish, with dancers from the renowned Jin Xing Dance Theatre modeling the clothes in a specially choreographed catwalk show to music by Matti Ahopelto. The movement of the dancers demonstrated perfectly the comfort, freedom, joy and colour of the Marimekko designs.
Following on from the fashion show, we had some time to view the ‘Design Colours Life – Contemporary Finnish Design and Marimekko’, exhibition inside MoCA, after which we enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by chef Petteri Luoto who had used specially sourced Chinese ingredients to recreate Finnish recipies. With full tummies and joyful hearts we headed back to our hotel - the JW Marriott, Shanghai Tomorrow Square, to squeeze in some beauty Zzzz’s ahead of our flight home.
STYLEetc would like to thank Finnair and Marimekko for a truly wonderful, whirlwind weekend!
by Gemma Latham
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