Ottavio Missoni, whom friends and close relatives called Tai, was born in 1921 in Dubrovnik, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and formerly known as Ragoza. His father was the Italian sea captain Vittorio Missoni, and his mother was the Croatian-Italian noblewoman Teresa de Vidovic, Countess of Caposeto. Before the Second World War, he successfully participated in international sports competitions (Ottavio became the Absolute Champion of Italy, and in 1939, having won the 400-meter race in Vienna, he received the title of Student World Champion), and after its beginning he was at the front in Egypt, where in 1942 he was captured by the British.
In captivity, Missoni spent 4 years, and, returning to Italy in 1946, continued to engage in athletics, and in 1947, together with his friend Giorgio Oberweger, opened a small workshop for the manufacture of wool sportswear in the city of Trieste. It was his Venjulia costumes that became the official uniform of the Italian team at the 1948 London Olympics. It was there that Ty met Rosita Jelmini, a girl from a family that owned a wool factory, from the Italian city of Golasecca.
Ottavio competed in the Olympics with the national team, and Rosita came to London to support the athletes, and was present at the stadium on the day that Tai won the 400-meter obstacle course.
In 1949, after completing her education, Rosita followed in the footsteps of her father, Angelo Jelmini, and began working for the family firm.
Their meeting was arranged by fate. Rosita Jelmina and Ottavio Missoni married in 1953. And immediately organized knitting production near Milan.
After 5 years, the Missoni family already had three children - Vittorio (1954), Luca (1956) and Angela (1958).
The family manufactory presented its first collection under the name Milano-Simpathy in 1958 in the department store La Rinascente. After the first displays in department stores, the colorful striped outfits on which the Missoni labels first appeared began to quickly diverge, willingly order for sale by an increasing number of stores.
In 1958, the young fashion designers drew the attention of Anna Piaggi, the legendary editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine Arianna. She, along with her husband, did a lot to promote the young brand, telling about each new collection of Missoni in the pages of her magazine in original and talented articles.
In 1965, a collaboration between the house of Missoni and a young French designer and stylist, Emmanuel Kahn, began, which led to a change in the entire style of the company.
Missoni's first fashion show took place in 1967 at a fashion exhibition held annually at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.
In 1968, at the insistence of Diana Vreeland, editor-in-chief of Vogue, the first show was organized in New York.
In 1969, the Missoni opened their first factory. The volume of output is significantly increasing.
Since the early 70s, the Missoni brand has conquered the world. Their knitwear is simply called “the best”. The highlight of the brand is a masterful game with color, a colorful palette of many tones (22 by 12 inches!), smoothly flowing into each other, exoticism, optimism and... absolute uniqueness.
In 1978, the fashion house “Missoni” celebrated its 25th anniversary, marking the event with chic shows in Milan and New York. A year later, “Missoni” will present a line of men’s clothing. In the same year, the fashion house “Missoni” in Milan was awarded the medal “For Civil Merit” and, subsequently, the diploma “For contribution to the cause of the Italian Republic” (Commendatore al Merito della Republica Italiana).
In the early 80s, Missoni created a collection of costumes for Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor, which took place on the stage of the famous La Scala in Milan.
In 1994, when the brand turned 40 years old, the exhibition “Missonology – the World of Missoni” was organized, which was shown in several countries.
In 1997, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni handed over the management of the fashion house “Missoni” to their daughter, Angela Missoni.
Angela Missoni was born in Milan in December 1958. Before accepting the position of Artistic Director of the House, Angela supervised the issuance of licenses for accessories for main lines, collections for boutiques and a collection of clothes for children.
From 1992 to March 1997, she designed her own collection to express her sense of style. In 1998, Angela first released a full collection for the spring-summer season under the brand name “Missoni”.
In November 2005, the fashion house “Missoni” signed an agreement with the company “Rezidor SAS” for the construction of hotels such as “lifestyle” under its brand. The first three were built in Edinburgh, Kuwait and Dubai.
Today, Missoni remains a family business. Angela Missoni is assisted by her brothers Vittorio and Luca Missoni. The first deals with the marketing and development of concepts for branded boutiques, and the second - the design of a textile line for the home and the men's line, as well as directing research in the field of knitwear.
Of course, the fashion house “Missoni” has acquired a special status in the fashion world, which is confirmed by a huge list of famous personalities who became its clients: Alen Delon (Alen Delon), Jennifer Lopez (Jennifer Lopez), Cindy Crawford (Cindy Crawford), Sharon Stone (Sharon Stone), Elton John (Elton John), Julia Roberts (Julia Roberts), Johnny Depp (Johnny Depp), Mel Gibson (Mel Gibson), Steven Spielberg (Steven Spielberg), Liza Minelli (Liza Mine), Catherine Deneu and many others.