Remembering Rosita Missoni: The story behind the Italian fashion house Missoni
As the co-founder of Italian luxury fashion house Rosita Missoni dies at 93, we look at how the brand shaped up over the years.
Italian knitwear designer Rosita Missoni, who alongside her husband Ottavio Missoni co-founded the luxury label Missoni has passed away at 93. She died at her home in Sumirago. Her brand page shared her demise and wrote, "The Missoni family and Missoni Group announce the passing of Rosita Missoni, a central figure in Italian fashion."
The designer was best known for her patent zigzag patterns and reinvented knitwear.
She started her business in the year 1953 with her husband Ottavio Missoni. It was during a trip to London in 1948 that Rosita met her husband Ottavio, who was then competing with the Italian 400 meters hurdles team at the Olympics. They together decided to set up a small knitwear workshop in the basement of their house in Gallarate.
Italian knitwear designer Rosita Missoni, who alongside her husband Ottavio Missoni co-founded the luxury label Missoni has passed away at 93. She died at her home in Sumirago. Her brand page shared her demise and wrote, "The Missoni family and Missoni Group announce the passing of Rosita Missoni, a central figure in Italian fashion."
The designer was best known for her patent zigzag patterns and reinvented knitwear.
She started her business in the year 1953 with her husband Ottavio Missoni. It was during a trip to London in 1948 that Rosita met her husband Ottavio, who was then competing with the Italian 400 meters hurdles team at the Olympics. They together decided to set up a small knitwear workshop in the basement of their house in Gallarate.
The brand did its first show in the year 1966. And the husband-wife duo shot to fame worldwide post a controversy during their presentation in 1967, at the Pitti Palace in Florence. It was also known as the battle of bras. Rosita noticed that the models' bras were visible through their tops which was a distraction and camouflaged the pattern on the tops. So she asked the models to remove their bras while walking the ramp. Little did she realise that the models revealed more than intended under the ramp lighting and the incident caused quite a stir.
Missoni changed the way we look at sportswear and athleisure forever. It was one of the first fashion houses to draw inspiration from sports to create a line of modern clothing. They were the first to introduce track pants with side zip so that they could be put on with sneakers.
Rosita lost interest in fashion in the 1990s and her daughter Angela took over the brand.