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Last night we stopped by Crate and Barrel on Houston for a party celebrating the launch of a Marimekko shop inside the store. Crate and Barrel has had a relationship with the Finnish fabric experts for years, but this is the first modern dedicated shop-in-shop. (If it works, expect to see others open around the country). We'll have a fuller peek at the whole store a little later, but for now, some stray observations from the event.
1. It looks like Finland in there. Crate and Barrel founder Gordon Segal explained that his goal was to capture the feel of Marimekko HQ in Helsinki. As such, the space has blond wood floors (unlike the rest of the store) and a notably Scandinavian vibe.
2. People love to wear Marimekko to Marimekko events. We even think we might have spotted something from the old H&M collab.
3. They've got much more than just fabric. Marimekko makes all sorts of colorful little impulse buys—umbrellas, baby bibs, change purses—and they're all for sale, the better to take advantage of shoppers who can't commit to furniture but want a piece of the action. We're amazed that we escaped without a shopping bag full of cow mugs and decorative paper napkins—it's seriously dangerous in there.
· Marimekko and Crate & Barrel, Sitting in a Soho Tree [Racked NY]