Lettinews

Now that we are on the threshold of the four-year anniversary of the 'letti' pattern surface (VIMMAprint by Maija Louekari), it makes me smile and amaze at the same time. What is that braid that is glimpsed here, here and there. Almost anywhere, when you look around.

 

On the best day, 2,300 leggings made from lettiprint have been sold. Two thousand three hundred! On that day (and on the following few days as well), packing workshops were held at VIMMA's shipyard. Vimma's heart was filled with young, nimble fingers, who together did everything they could to ensure that no one was left without. And still stayed. Perhaps the salt of the pattern lies in the fact that no matter how hard you try, even if production grows along with the number of orders, there is always someone who needs it, because of which a new batch is placed on the order again.

 

In the early days, the butt seams of 1TP2Leggings had to be patched. There were batches that did not meet VIMMA's quality requirements.

"They were our growing pains. Of course, it's sad that we weren't able to be worthy of the customers' trust, but we decided to make the triple layer stronger," says Vimma CEO Marjut Rahkola.

When you wrap yourself up in lettileggins 24 hours a day, sometimes you feel like changing the color. As a result, alongside the original black-and-white print, new and increasingly new colors began to appear. Fortunately, Maija's eye for color produces more color pairs, from which Marjut picks her favorites and tints them to her liking. "When thinking about new worlds, I have always trusted my hunch, my inner instinct about which color will be hot tomorrow."

 

The directionless letti enthusiasm is a customer-created phenomenon that Vimma has not deliberately pursued. It is the sum of good coincidences. "Perhaps there is also a desire to be part of something common, big thing," reflects Marjut.

 

The story of Leti is as old as the story of VIMMA. At the same moment when ideas about a new children's clothing brand were being envisioned on the playground bench, visions of our very own VIMMA print were already being thrown around. Pattern designer Maija Louekari, who was playing with her children in her local park, immediately received the ball from Marjuti.

 

"When Marjut told me that she was thinking about starting her own children's clothing brand, I immediately told her that if you ever need patterns, I would be happy to make them! I sketched my daughter Stella's braids in the Letti print. It depicts that moment between mother and daughter, where motherly love slips into the braids. Now, years later, we have happily watched together how Stella's pigtails spin, on both big and small people around the world."

 

"When the first teaser of the print was pulled from the package, and the finished letti piece was modeled on the legs, hands, head and everywhere, it was perfect from the very first moment," recalls Marjut.

 

The CEO has been following the hype around the pattern with a bit of even confusion. "Although I understand the appeal of lettiprint and I love it myself, it is not the thing that defines VIMMA's identity or the cornerstone of VIMMA. We have a huge number of other wonderful patterns. And each of our pattern designers has the opportunity to challenge this print at any moment. With its success, Letti has enabled Vimma to do many things in a short period of time that otherwise would have been impossible, and I am grateful for that."