A combination of colours, waves, zigzag and geometric patterns. These are the elements that have
made Missoni one of the most recognizable Italian fashion houses, that since the 1950s has
gradually asserted a precise idea of lifestyle conveyed not only through clothes but also through
interior design.
Today, the Missoni family wants to remember their success, their history, their love for fabrics.
They do it with a limited-edition book titled Missoni. The Great Italian Fashion, curated by
Massimiliano Capella, professor of Costume and Fashion History at Bergamo University, in
collaboration with Missoni Archive, managed by artistic director Luca Missoni and the Foundation
Ottavio and Rosita Missoni, published by Scripta Maneant Editions based in Bologna.
This work celebrated the Missoni language, a symbol of elegance and savoir-faire that has become
a cultural movement that marked the 50s and that keeps writing the history of fashion through a
continuous experimentation and reformulation of the codes of the Maison.
The book starts with an introduction that speaks in pictures, offering a look at the origins of the
house, until today. The work is then divided into different sections, each of these is introduced by
the words of Missoni family, which presents to us the same path made years ago by the founders
Ottavio and Rosita, up to the present day. It all begins with “Beauty and Harmony”, the ingredients
that started the whole thing. The section presents indeed a glimpse of the past and the first
beginnings, the lines that defined the Missoni’s DNA, all placed on a sort of timeline that focuses
on the Maison’s first successes, highlighting in particular the events that have guaranteed them an
international visibility; just remember the Runway Scandal of 1967, when during the debut show in
Florence the models hit the runway in sheer lurex dresses without bras on, or the Neiman Marcus
Fashion Awards in 1973, as well as the collaborations with cinema and theatre in the 80s.
The section “An Artful Style. Stripes, Zigzags and Abstract Creations” concludes the book. The
latter focuses on some of the Maison’s creations that became the protagonists of several exhibitions
in museums, such as the patchwork pullover worn by Lino Capolicchio on the cover of L’UOMO
Vogue in 1971, demonstrating how such creations can be works of art to be displayed at museums
and at the same time still be wearable.
“This is how the Missoni’s fashion became contemporary language” stated prof. Massimiliano
Capella “a visual culture that has become an integral part of our history”.
words Ludovica Mucci