Marja Kurki

Chances are, when you think of necktie designers from Finland, Marja Kurki is the first name you think of (if any at all). Probably the only one, too (but who hasn't wished that Marimekko made ties?). Marja Kurki started making scarves in 1975, and in 1976 founded Marja Kurki, Ltd. After a brief period when the company was owned by the aforementioned textile powerhouse Marimekko (1988-1991), the Kurki family bought it back, and it now has offices in Sweden, Denmark, and China. An article from 2000 mentions a New York office, but that must have closed since then. Like her German counterpart, Anne Surkamp-Kramer, Marja Kurki appears to do a thriving business designing corporate and "affinity" neckwear in addition to the fashion lines.

You might think this an unusually tasteful and restrained design for me, and you'd be right, but I find something very appealing in the repeating image of birds in scrub, and I like the colors. I especially like the yellow-green accents in the otherwise blue pattern, which I have tried to bring out by matching them with the shirt. The ensemble did pass the only test that is important to me: Mrs. Veneer liked it!