Armi Ratia (b. 1912) was the founder of Finnish textile company Marimekko. After studying at the Central School of Applied Arts Armi graduated as a textile designer and married Viljo Ratia settling in Vyborg, where she started a small weaving company. In 1949 Armi joined her husband’s wax and print fabric company. She started buying bold, colourful patterns for the company, and Marimekko was founded two years later when they began making clothes from Printex’s print fabrics. Armi Ratia made the avant garde designs of female artists like Maija Isola part of the Marimekko identity. By the 1960s, Marimekko’s bold prints and fashions had become popular in Finland and abroad, launching Marimekko internationally.