Missoni Helped to Pioneer Italian Fashion and Chart an Iconic Course for Colorful Knitwear
Rosita Missoni, a towering figure in Italian fashion and co-founder of the iconic Missoni brand, best known for its colorful zigzag-patterned knitwear, has passed away at her home in Sumirago, Northern Italy, at the age of 93. Her passing marks the end of an era for a brand that helped define Italian high fashion and played a pivotal role in establishing Milan as a global fashion hub.
Born Rosita Jelmini in Golasecca, she grew up in a family deeply entrenched in the textile industry. Her marriage to Ottavio Missoni in 1953 was not just a union of hearts but also of creative minds, as the couple founded Missoni that same year in Gallarate. Their early work, initially sold under co-labels or anonymously, soon gained recognition for its innovative knitwear designs, characterized by bold, multicolored patterns.
By the 1960s, Missoni had emerged as a key player in Italian fashion, with their collections featured in Vogue Italia and sold in prestigious department stores like La Rinascente in Milan. The brand’s distinctive approach to color and pattern became synonymous with Italian chic, influencing trends far beyond Italy’s borders.
Throughout the decades, Missoni’s runway shows became legendary for their creative staging, from historic theaters in Milan to floating models on inflatable furniture in public swimming pools, adding a theatrical flair that prefigured today’s Instagrammable fashion spectacles. The brand’s global stature was confirmed in the late 1970s when their work was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
Despite personal tragedies, including the death of their son Vittorio in a plane crash and Ottavio’s passing in 2013, the Missoni family continued to drive the brand forward. Rosita handed over the fashion reins to her daughter Angela in the late 1990s but remained active in the brand, particularly through the Missoni Home line.
Rosita’s legacy is marked by her visionary use of knitwear, transforming it into a vibrant art form that won countless admirers, including industry giants like Giorgio Armani and Carlo Capasa, chairman of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. “Rosita, with her good taste, her strong character and vision, is an example that continues to be an inspiration,” Armani said. Capasa reflected, “Rosita Missoni was both a strong and sensitive woman, who together with her husband Ottavio created one of the most beautiful and unique stories of Italian fashion, an unmistakable style and an authentic approach, very creative and at the same time rich in great humanity that she was able to convey to the world alongside her beautiful family.”