Marimekko’s Rebekka Bay on bringing the ‘Field of Flowers’ pop-up exhibition to The Mills
Finnish design house Marimekko transformed Hong Kong’s The Mills into a vibrant botanical wonderland from 12 to 22 June 2025, unveiling 25 original floral prints that celebrate the brand’s enduring connection with nature.
Titled Field of Flowers, the pop-up exhibition—which previously travelled to Osaka, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur—marked a key moment in Marimekko’s year-long celebration of The Anatomy of Flowers, a theme that brought together five exceptional artists to reinterpret the house’s most iconic motif.
Expanding Marimekko’s archive of more than 3,500 prints, the exhibition featured works by Erja Hirvi, Masaru Suzuki, Aino-Maija Metsola, Antti Kekki and Eija Vehviläinen—each contributing a distinct visual language to the maison’s rich printmaking heritage. More than just a visual showcase, Field of Flowers gave visitors the opportunity to acquire exclusive limited-edition pieces featuring the new prints—from tote bags and coin purses to cushion covers and collectible posters. The Hong Kong leg of the pop-up was also the first to introduce ceramic offerings.
In an exclusive conversation with Tatler, creative director Rebekka Bay shares howField of Flowers encapsulates Marimekko’s design philosophy: to transform everyday spaces into sources of joy and inspiration through thoughtful, artful design.
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Marimekko creative director Rebekka Bay (Photo: Marimekko)
This isn't the Field of Flowers exhibition’s first stop in Asia. Have you made any special adaptations for the Hong Kong edition? The Field of Flowers exhibition was designed to adapt to a variety of spaces—whether small, medium or large. Each iteration is unique, but all contain the same essential elements. This expression is particularly expansive and, I hope you’ll agree, stunning. The Hong Kong edition is also the first to feature Field of Flowers ceramics available for purchase, including exclusive products created specifically for this exhibition.
Why hold the exhibition at The Mills? In addition to wanting to be where our community is, we’ve specifically been searching for high-ceilinged venues that allow us to hang textiles in a way that creates compelling architectural spatial designs. The Mills—a former textile mill—was a serendipitous match. We wanted to create immersive, engaging environments where our community could fully experience and interact with the Marimekko Field of Flowers.
The exhibition features 25 new floral designs from five artists. What captivated you about their artistic visions? At Marimekko, we’ve always been fascinated by florals—both as abstract concepts and as literal motifs. The idea was to take something that is deeply embedded in our design language and reimagine it as the foundation for an entirely new series of floral prints. Each artist brought a unique perspective, but together they form a collective expression of what florals can represent today.
New floral prints displayed the ‘Field of Flowers’ exhibition (Photo: Marimekko)
New floral prints displayed at the ‘Field of Flowers’ exhibition (Photo: Marimekko)
Hundreds of new floral prints were created for the exhibition, but we only see 25 today. Was it difficult to narrow them down? Surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult to select the 25 featured floral prints. Each one strongly reflects Marimekko’s DNA: they are simultaneously abstract and literal, celebrate perfect imperfections, and convey a tangible human touch. While each design has its own identity, they all feel distinctly part of the Marimekko floral family.
Marimekko's archive contains over 3,500 prints. When developing this exhibition, how did you balance heritage and innovation? Printmaking is our craft—one we continuously nurture and evolve. We regularly draw on our rich archive for our seasonal collections, but we also push forward with new prints that redefine what printmaking can be today and in the future. Our goal is to translate our legacy into expressions that resonate with a global and ever-growing audience.
Why present these new floral prints first in an artistic rather than commercial setting?Marimekko has always operated at the intersection of fashion, art, design and architecture. Presenting our bold printed fabrics as ceiling-height installations allows audiences to experience the ‘original’ canvas—before the prints are adapted and scaled across various product categories.
Set up of the ‘Field of Flowers’ exhibition at The Mills (Photo: Marimekko)
Tote bags showcased around the ‘Field of Flowers’ exhibition (Photo: Marimekko)
Merchandise showcased around the ‘Field of Flowers’ exhibition (Photo: Marimekko)
Beyond the merchandise available at the exhibition, how will these new floral prints be used in future Marimekko collections?Some of the floral patterns featured in the exhibition will be incorporated into our spring-summer 2026 ready-to-wear collections, followed by autumn-winter 2026 Home collections. Of course, the prints will be reimagined—rescaled and recoloured to suit the context of each product and category.
What can we look forward to next from Marimekko?We’re continuing to explore our overarching theme, The Anatomy of Flowers, throughout the year. We’re also looking forward to launching our collaboration collection with Artek later this year. Looking further ahead, we will be unveiling the outcome of our artist-in-residence programme—more on that soon.
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