Maija Isola (Born 15th March 1927) was a Finnish designer mainly specialising in the work of printed textiles. Isola studied painting at the Helsinki Central School of Industrial Arts. While still a student, she was noticed in 1949 by Marimekko’s founder, Armi Ratia. Ratia hired Isola, she became the principal textile designer for Marimekko.
Between 1957 and 1963 she made her first series of works on a single theme, Luonto. It consisted of 30 designs based on plants pressed by her daughter Kristina, starting at age 11. At the age of 18 Kristina herself joined Marimekko and became the company’s chief designers. The mother and daughter worked together from 1980 to 1987 on various pieces of works. Maija Isola died on the 3rd of March 2001.