Missoni – brand history, Italian clothing brand, knitwear

Missoni is an Italian fashion house founded by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni. Specializes in the production of knitwear.

History of the fashion house Missoni


The history of the Missoni fashion house is quite long and interesting. Missoni was founded in 1953 by a married couple – Ottavio and Rosita Missoni, well, they named it after their last name.

Ottavio Missoni

Born in 1921 in the small town of Dubrovnik (part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, formerly known as Ragoza). The boy’s father was the Italian sea captain Vittorio Missoni. Well, as for my mother, she was a Croatian-Italian noblewoman Teresa de Vidovic. When he was 10 years old, he received the nickname Tai. The boy had good abilities for sports and at the age of 16, Ottavio became multiple winners of various athletics competitions. In 1939, Tai won the 400 meters race in Vienna, and received the title of Student World Champion.

But then the Second World War begins and Ottavio gets to the front in Egypt. There he was taken prisoner by the British in 1942, where he spent 4 years. In 1946, Ottavio returned to Italy, where he continued to engage in athletics. And in 1947, having teamed up with Giorgio Oberweger (Giorgio Oberweger), Ottavio Missoni founded in Trieste (Italy) a small factory for the production of sports knitwear, in particular sweaters.

Considering that Ottavio devoted a lot of his time to sports, initially at the factory, on three machines, they began to produce clothes for athletes. Already in 1948, their line of Venjulia suits (Venjulia) becomes the official uniform of Italian athletes at the Olympic Games in London. By the way, Ottavio himself also acted at those games as the captain of the Gallaratese team and won the 400-meter hurdle race. In the same place in London, he met his future wife – Rosita Jelmini (Rosita Jelmini).

Rosita Jelmini

Rosita Jelmini was born in 1931 in the small Italian town of Golacecca, which is located in the province of Varese in the north of the country. At the end of World War II, Rosita goes to a boarding school where she studies foreign languages. To learn English in practice, Rosita is also sent to London, where she first saw Ottavio at the 1948 Olympics. They were introduced by her friend. After that, the story of Ottavio and Rosita goes together.

Missoni family

In 1949, Rosita completed her studies and began working in a family firm that was engaged in tailoring. In 1951, Ottavio and Rosita got engaged, and in 1953 they got married in Golasecca. They began to live separately from their parents in Gallarate (Gallarate, Lombardy), where they equipped a knitting workshop in the basement of their new home. In it they produced clothes, and in the house, they led a family life. So in 1954 Vittorio is born, in 1956 Luca and 1958 Angela.

Missoni presented his first collection of clothes called Milano-Simpathy (Milano-Simpati) in 1958 (the year of his daughter’s birth) in the department store La Rinascente (Rinacentre). Then their name appears on clothing labels: Missoni. The collection was a success, focusing on striped clothing. After the show, the young brand was noticed by the editor of the fashion magazine Arianna (Arianna) – Anna Piaggi (Anna Piaggi). She is the first to show a serious interest in the work of the Missoni family. It was Anna Piaggi, her husband, who did a lot to promote the brand. So Anna covered each new collection in the magazine.

Missoni’s first press show took place at Milan’s Teatro Gerolamo in 1965 and was a huge success with an unusual show. On the catwalk, models drew signs and sketches on a transparent film with a marker, behind which other fashion models repeated the same gestures, changing clothes almost in front of the public. It was like the magic of the Chinese shadow theater, which took on volume, the director of the theater, Carletto Colombo, later wrote. After the show, the collaboration between the Missoni brand and the young French designer Emmanuel Kahn began, which led to a change in the entire style of the company.

In 1966, the Missoni brand was officially registered. However, the founders did not have the money to create a full-fledged factory. Their machines could only sew smooth fabrics, therefore, in order to interest the buyer, the company began to produce materials where the main emphasis was placed on multi-colored stripes of various widths. But gradually new equipment was bought and clothes became decorated with zigzag ornaments. Over time, it was this pattern that became a characteristic feature of the Missoni style.

In 1967, the company came to real fame thanks to two events. This year, Missoni clothes appear on the cover of Arianna magazine. And besides, their first show takes place in the Florentine Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti). It was a show that caused a lot of criticism, but the brand was noticed. In the last minutes before the start of the show, Rosita discovers that the models’ underwear under light lamé blouses doesn’t match. So she tells the models to take off their underwear. In the light of a spotlight, almost everything is seen through the models, and the exhibition management did not invite them to the next year, but they began to talk about the brand. Journalists around the world speak of the show as the most original and eccentric.

In 1968, at the insistence of the editor-in-chief of Vogue – Diana Vreeland (Diana Vreeland), Missoni held its first show in New York (USA).

In 1969 Missoni finally opened its first factory. As a result, the volume of production is greatly increased.

In the 70s, the Missoni fashion house reached the peak of its popularity. The word Missoni gains weight and buyers line up outside the doors of their stores. Some journalists compare Missoni with Coco Chanel. Knitwear from Missoni is called the best in the world. His samples end up in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Museum of Costume in Bath (UK).

In 1978, Missoni Fashion House celebrated its 25th anniversary. In honor of this event, there were chic shows in Milan and New York.

In 1979, Missoni launches a menswear line. In the same year, the Missoni fashion house in Milan was awarded the medal “For Civil Merit”, and a little later, the diploma “For Contribution to the Italian Republic” (Commendatore al Merito della Republica Italiana).

In the 1980s, the first perfume from Missoni was released, which won the Fragrance Foundation Award for the best packaging. In addition, Missoni creates a collection of costumes for the opera Gaetano Donizetti (Gaetano Donizetti) Lucia di Lammermoor, which is shown on the stage of La Scala (La Scala) in Milan (Italy).
In 1994, the brand celebrates its 40th anniversary with the exhibition Missonology – the World of Missoni (Missonology – the world of Missoni), which was shown in several countries.

In 1997, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni handed over the management to their daughter Angela Missoni. In addition to Angela, who is the creative director, the company also employs the sons of Vittorio, who is the commercial director, and Luca, who is in charge of the men’s collection.

In 1998, Angela Missoni first released a full collection of spring-summer 1998 under the label “Missoni”.

In 2005, Missoni collaborates with Rezidor SAS (Rezidor SAS). So lifestyle hotels were built under the Missoni brand in Edinburgh, Kuwait, and Dubai.

Positioning the Missoni brand


Under the Missoni trademark, women’s, and men’s clothing, sportswear, home textiles, perfumes, and designer furniture are produced. In addition, there are hotels with the Missoni logo. The company is still a family business.

Clothes from Missoni are certainly expensive, and Missoni knitwear takes some getting used to, as it is painfully bright. The famous zigzags adorn low-cut dresses, tops, and skirts of complex design. At the same time, knitwear – the most shapeless and homely material – at Missoni turns into an airy, clear, and very seductive matter. In addition to the pattern, Missoni items are famous for impeccably smooth seams, thanks to which the joints of the parts are imperceptible. The third feature of Missoni is some kind of comprehensive versatility: these clothes are equally appropriate in the office, in the country, and at a secular party.

Celebrities who love Missoni


There are quite a few of them: Alain Delon, Jennifer Lopez, Cindy Crawford, Sharon Stone, Elton John, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Steven Spielberg, Liza Minnelli, Catherine Deneuve and many others.

Where to buy Missoni clothes, store addresses on the official website of the company: missoni.com


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