Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the Italian fashion house 'Missoni' which is known for its bright and patterned styles, died at the age of 93 on Wednesday, January 1, a company official said. The Italian designer launched the company with her husband Ottavio Missoni in 1953. The brand is popular for its colourful knitwear which features geometric patterns and stripes.
Missoni transformed zigzag patterned knitwear into high fashion and she played an important role in launching Italian ready-to-wear on the global fashion market. She was born into a family of textile artisans and studied modern languages.
She met her husband, Ottavio Missoni, in 1948 in London where she went to improve her English. Ottavio was participating in the London Olympics. She later married him in 1953 in Golasecca and settled in Gallarate, Lombardy, Italy.
The Missoni family in a statement said that she was "a visionary figure in the Italian and international fashion world."
The layered design, bold stripes and zigzag knitwear of Missoni became famous. Speaking to WWD, Giorgio Armani said, "Rosita, with her good taste, her strong character and vision, is an example that continues to be an inspiration. This is how I remember her."
The couple set up a small knitwear workshop in Gallarate which they called Maglificio Jolly. They later moved their company's base to Italian town of Sumirago, north of Milan.
The Missoni family suffered a tragedy when the couple's eldest son, Vittorio Missoni who was the company's marketing director died in a plane crash off the coast of Venezuela. Ottavio died in May 2014, four months after their son's plane had gone missing.
Missoni was the creative director of the womenswear collection until the late 1990s and then her daughter Angela Missoni took over. The family sold 41.2 % stake in the company to Italian investment find FSI. In 2021, Missoni's daughter stepped down as the creative director of the company.
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