POINTS OF PRIDE: In honor of Pride Month, the Finnish design house Marimekko has called upon three LGBTQ visual artists in Latest York, Bangkok and Helsinki, Finland, to create work for a Marimekko store window.

Brooklyn, Latest York-based art director and illustrator Shanée Benjamin, Bangkok-based illustrator Juli Baker and Summer and the Helsinki-based visual and textile artist Anna-Karoliina Vainio were recruited for commissions. Baker, who earned a fashion degree at Chulalongkorn University, began her artist profession under the nom de plume Juli Baker and Summer in 2015. As some extent of reference to assist get the three artists’ ideas circulating, they got a quote by Marimekko founder Armi Ratia, who wrote in her diary on the age of 14, “There is barely one strength — love.”

As an official partner of Helsinki Pride since 2018 and a supporter of the Finnish LGBTQ artist community, Marimekko has had similar art window collaborations in Helsinki for the past three years. As well as, the corporate has a practice of inviting artists and creatives from all walks of life to create daring and colourful prints with a view to brighten the lives of individuals.

This 12 months is the primary that the shop window concept was unveiled in Latest York and Bangkok. Earlier this month, the Brooklyn-based art director and illustrator Benjamin might be seen working on her creation outside of the brand’s Wooster Street store, while shoppers browsed indoors. To provide them one other taste of her artistry, a few of Benjamin’s personal paintings are on display in the shop this month.

Although Pride Month winds down within the U.S. at the top of this month, Helsinki’s Pride celebration runs through July 2. Finland’s former president Tarja Halonen, an advocate for the human rights of sexual and gender minorities, will function this 12 months’s event patron. Vainio’s artistry can be on view within the Helsinki store until July 3.

It won’t be long before Marimekko has other reasons to have fun. The Finnish brand will participate in Copenhagen Fashion Week in August, and more plans are within the works for next 12 months in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the brand’s Unikko (poppy) print.