Missoni

Missoni represents a unique style in ready-to-wear knit classics. Because what started off as a tiny workshop belonging to a newly-wed couple has today become the leading trend-setter for knitwear throughout the world.

Rosita Jelmini was born in 1932 near Varese in Italy and chose to study languages. Later on, she was sent to London in order to improve her English. Ottavio (known to everyody as Tai) was born in 1921 in Dalmatia and brought up in Trieste. In the late 1940s he was producing track suits with a friend to be worn by the Italian national team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Rosita who had gone to watch the games saw Tai run as a finalist in the 400 meters obstacle course and decided that he would become her husband. Five years later they were married and had set up a small workshop in order to earn a living. They soon moved on to knitwear from track suits.

Their first big break came in 1964 when they met designer Emmanuelle Kahn and decided to make a knitwear collection together which they showed in Milan two years later; then in 1967 came their second big break, when they presented their collection at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. They instantly became world-famous, or, rather, infamous, due to the fact that Rosita, making a last-minute decision, told the models to take off their bras because they ruined the lines of the black silk jersey dresses they were to model on the catwalk. Missoni didn't realize that under Pitti's blazing lights the tops of the dresses would become very transparent, and the fashion world was therefore shocked, the show then making the headlines around the world.

Ottavio and Rosita like to be called artisans because they developed their business by dreaming up some very colourful designs, mostly influenced by folk art. First they began with stripes, the easiest design which could possibly be made.

Today, Missoni employs around 200 people at their Sumirago headquarters in the province of Varese. They use all the way up to twenty different fabrics, including wool, cotton, linen, rayon and silk and some 40 different colours for each of their collections. Their clothes range from sweaters to skirts, dresses and jackets. Ottavio Missoni has also diversified his range from clothes to tapestries as well as carpets. In spite of their rapid expansion and their growing international sales, the Missonis have kept their traditional ideas and maintained a very high level of quality, which is an important priority to them. Ottavio and Rosita have three children who have all joined the family business.

The man who hated myths and taking oneself and one's clothing too seriously is today sadly missed in the upbrow world of Italian fashion, but his trademark still lives on and is very much appreciated especially by the young, the original, and the young at heart.

Find Fashion by Missoni @ the following eshop: