Mad for Missoni

Instead of my usual ‘commandments of dressing’ post I will instead be writing about a family driven brand that also happens to be celebrating their 60th anniversary this year! Missoni is an Italian fashion house that is known best for their colorful knitwear and quite an illustrious history.

History

Ottavio “Tai” Missoni was born in 1921; his father was Italian sea captain Vittorio Missoni and his mother Teresa de’ Vidovich Countess di Capocesto e Ragosniza, was a noblewoman. Before WWII Ottavio was an international athlete, but during his service in El Alamein, Egypt he was captured and held as a POW for four years – Egypt was under British rule at the time. After the war ended, he set up a wool track-suit workshop with his friend and fellow Italian athlete Giorgio Oberweger. The tracksuits were eventually adopted by the Italian Olympic team in 1948, three years after the war ended. 

• Interesting side note: Vittorio himself, qualified for the final 400m hurdle race.

When competing at Wembley Stadium (London) he met Rosita Jelmini, the daughter of a family of lounge-wear and bedspread makers. They eventually married in April of 1953 and set up a small knitwear workshop in Gallarate, close to Rosita’s home village of Golasecca, Varese under the brand we recognize today Missoni. During this time they were also collaborating with Louis Hildago at the Biki boutique in Milan in which they created collections for La Rinascente. 

Claim to Fame 

In 1958 the couple presented their debut collection at Milan Fashion Week (which was founded the same year) entitled Milano-Simpathy – featuring bold colored stripped knitted shirt dresses. After the showing, their business flourished with support from numerous influential industry professionals such as writer Anna Piaggi, editor Diana Vreeland and French stylist Emmanuelle Khanh whom they released a collaborative collection with the following year. An invitation to present at the Pitti Palace in Florence further perpetuated them towards household fame. During that infamous fashion show (1967), Rosita told the models to remove their bras because they were the wrong color and to improve the line of the dresses. Under the bright runway lights the thin lamé garments became transparent exposing the model’s chests which caused quite a stir. Something that definitely wouldn't even be thought of twice nowadays!

• Side note: This comes only a year before Yves Saint Laurent debuted his ‘nude look’ in Paris.

Milano-Simpathy Collection, the models changed backstage behind a sheet so it allowed for audience members to see their shadows.

Needless to say, the Missonis were not invited back, but this only gave way for the couple to present their S/S ’68 collection at a special organized showing at the Solari swimming pool in Florence. The models were featured floating in blow up, transparent floating furniture while being pushed around by strapping young men – not bad eh? The furniture pieces were designed by Quasar Khanh (husband of Emmanuelle Khanh), whom was seen greeting guests pre-show in a giant floating house. The show ended with a collective swim and created a new standard for the fashion show – people from then on expected a performance. This all consequentially led to their first North American boutique inside acclaimed retailer Bloomingdales. 

Rosita’s background is what allowed her to develop her knits as if they were fabrics, creating vertical lines versus horizontal which allowed her to create meters long of knits! She also invented the ‘fiammata’ technique (it means flames in Italian), which uses machines inspired by embroidery to create knit fabric in the form of zig-zags. The machine creates the zig-zags 1mm at a time in a factory 45 minutes outside of Milan. Rosita and Vittorio still live nearby to the factory to ensure things are running in tip-top shape! Rosita went on further to also create a great garment identification technique for the brand, where they were able to cut and sew the tightly knit fabric which was unthought-of with knits. This allowed the brand to create non-knit apparel styles.

Growth 

During the 70s, Missoni was at the height of recognition and influence within the fashion world. They are one of the companies that established Milan as the Italian fashion capital, as their headquarters are stationed there - the previous Italian fashion hub was Florence. Vittorio and Rosita eventually became more interested in branching out exploring other artistic venues such as tapestries and housewares. In 1998 Rosita handed down all her design roles to her daughter Angela and is now solely responsible for overseeing all home project designs. 

Family 

The business has always been family orientated which is why management has always remained within the family. Vittorio the oldest of three children, is the marketing director, Luca is the creative director and as mentioned above, Angela is head mens and womenswear designer.  Angela’s daughter, Margherita designs the Missoni accessories and is also a model that has been the face for two of their fragrances, as well as numerous Missoni collections and collaborations. She has since become one of the most recognized faces of the brand and has gained quite a following. 

Margherita Missoni is pictured beside her mother Angela and uncle Vittorio. Luca is pictured right.

One of my favorite photos of Margherita - she is such a beautiful woman!

Recently the family has been in the news as Vittorio Jr's plane crashed and the search is still on. A month has past but the family remains strong and united. I am sending all my best wishes for a positive outcome. 

Brands

Missoni Sport: Was originally licensed out but the production and marketing was brought in-house in 2002 and has since been discontinued.

M Missoni: Is a bridge line that was introduced in 1998. Its high success has prompted specialty boutiques around the world to sell the line.

Hotel Missoni: A lifestyle hotel chain that is completely decorated in all Missoni developed prints and products. There are currently two locations located in Edinburgh and Kuwait. There were many more hotels scheduled but many have since been postponed and nixed due to limited funds.

Missoni Home: The collection was developed in collaboration with Rosita’s family.

Top Left - Missoni Home, Top Right - M for Missoni, Bottom Left - Sport Missoni, Bottom Right - Missoni Hotel

Collaborations

Missoni for Converse: Missoni collaborated with Converse to design twenty unisex one-of-a-kind shoes inspired from dead-stock fabrics from the Missoni archives. Artist Gary Card also created a special display stand for the shoes.

Missoni for Target: Missoni created a 400 item collection for Target including everything from housewares to patio furniture! They collection did so well it sold out in less than 24 hours creating an uproar for those who did not get so lucky in stores. 

Missoni for San Pellegrino: This was a perfect partnership as both brands are Italian and are prideful of such. Missoni’s goal was to give shape to their interpretation of water’s characteristics. It was available in four colors and marked the first time in more than a century (they have been producing mineral water for over 600 years!) that San Pellegrino has allowed for their label to be altered. The bottle was distributed to various high end restaurants around the world.

Missoni and Holt Renfrew: Holt Renfrew partnered with Missoni to create a limited-edition worldwide bear and elephant. They designed this in support of OrphanAid Africa which Margherita Missoni has been the head of the Italian division for 9 years. Their goal was to raise a total of $100,000 in hopes of improving the living conditions for children and families in Africa.

Top Left - Missoni for Converse, Top Right- Missoni for Target, Bottom Left - Missoni for San Pellegrino, Bottom Right - Missoni and Holt Renfrew

Trademark

Missoni is most known for their colorful weaves and patterns of geometrics, interpretive florals, stripes but mostly their infamous chevron motif (aka. Zig-Zags). In the most recently S/S and PF’13 shows, Angela has steered away from the traditional array of colors and opted for more monochromatic driven looks utilizing a multitude of fabrications and weaves to create depth and character. She still somehow manages to place all this complexity into seamless and delicate designs. 

S/S '13 - Two Looks Left, PF '13 - Two Looks Right.

The following is my Missoni inspired outfit. I am wearing one of my favorite Missoni pieces. I do love their zig-zagged designs but I tend to gravitate towards their more unique prints with geometric shapes and abstract florals. Since the blazer stands on it's own, I decided to pair it up with more neutral colors and simple silhouettes. 

Gianfranco Ferre Cardigan, Emporio Armani Belt, Zara Cargos, Taipei Night Market Heels

I'm ending off my post with one of my favorite shoots of the family; They shot it in the Museum of Everything. 

Until next time,

Kelly