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Women's

Conversation With: Vittorio Missoni and Ottavio Missoni Jr.

In recent years, Missoni has become as well known for the beautiful, bronzed family behind the brand as it is for that iconic zigzag stitch. The knitwear brand that started nearly 60 years ago in the Italian countryside has become a lifestyle brand, branching into home design and even boasting three hotels around the globe. Missoni has managed to translate both the ease and glamour of Italian style for customers all over the world.

Despite the luxury brand’s evolution, one thing remains unchanged: a focus on handing down a tradition of craftsmanship. In fact, today, three generations of Missonis help run all facets of the business, from marketing to manufacturing. The entire Missoni clan recently descended on Beverly Hills to receive the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style honor. Fittingly, it was the first time the honor had been given to a family.

NM Beverly Hills hosted an event with Vittorio Missoni, whose parents founded the brand, and his son Ottavio Jr.

NMdaily: Tell us how Missoni started.  

Vittorio: Missoni was founded in 1953 by my parents.  So Missoni has been a brand and a family for almost 60 years. My father Ottavio was in the Olympic Games. He was a runner for the Italian team. He met my mother Rosita in 1948. She was in college in London. She saw him running in the Olympic stadium. And, as you say, the rest is history.

The brand grew from my father’s company that made jogging suits, which were made of knitted jersey back then, and my mother’s family shawl-making business.  They both said let’s try to create something new, a new way of making knitwear.

NMdaily: How did the zigzag become a signature for Missoni?

Vittorio: My parents found some knitting machines that were used only to make curtains. We found that those machines could make very special patterns that all the traditional machines couldn’t.  So we started using them with colored yarns for the knitwear, even though everyone said, “Why would you want to use curtain machines to make clothes?” Creativity is an interesting thing. Obviously, you need the tools to create but sometimes you have to create your tools. We still have those original curtain machines, by the way.

 NMdaily: Tell us the approach Missoni takes to each collection every season.

Vittorio: We don’t really start with the shape or the fabric. We start with the colors. For my parents and now for my sister [creative director] Angela, the first step is the color palette. I think when you wear color and print, you feel it. You feel happy and in a good mood. A touch of color gives a touch of happiness.

NMdaily: Missoni seems timeless. How do you cultivate that?

Vittorio: All our customers say that the pieces don’t go out of style. You keep them for a long time. For example, look at the windows outside at Neiman’s. There are pieces from the Sixties and the Seventies but I think, they still look contemporary. You just change the attitude, you change the shoes, the bag, maybe the belt and they are still modern. Our combination of colors and fabrics also age well.

The quality of Missoni also makes it timeless. We manufacture our clothes. That’s very rare in the fashion world that a house does both the design and manufacturing. It’s very important for my son and my niece and the rest of the family, to keep in mind the entire process of making clothes. It’s about passing on that tradition and the passion. We want to transmit to a third generation of the family not just the passion for nice clothes, but the passion for how to make them. From the very beginning, from the yarn, from the raw material to how to spin it and how to knit.

NMdaily: Ottavio Jr., how does it feel to be part this Missoni legacy?

Ottavio Jr.: It’s an honor to be part of this family.  I was born in the yarns and in the knits. We all were — we are nine cousins, all between 20 and 28. When we were young, we would always go and see all the ladies knitting. We’d run and play among all the colors and with all the materials.  We’d make “carnival” clothes and costumes.  It’s the world we always lived in.

Now being grown up, we are having the chance to learn all sides of the business. It’s now three years that I’ve been working for the company. I love being there. From learning how the yarn is dyed to coming to Neiman Marcus and meeting customers, it’s incredible.

Vittorio: I would add that the new generation has helped a lot with growing the business. Angela is inspired a lot by her daughters, Teresa and Margherita [the brand’s face and global ambassador.] We all get stimulated by the new generation: how they think and how they wear things. It’s a fresh approach. How they appreciate the design and even how they critique. We love their criticisms.

My mother is obviously still involved. After she handed the fashion design to Angela, she created the home line of the business and that is doing fantastic. And my father, you know he is 90, but he is still very involved.

Ottavio Jr.: He still has his office and he goes there every day. He draws and matches colors and patterns.  And sometimes he gives the colors to Angela to inspire her. It’s kind of like when you are in school and you slip your friend the answer in class.

When the collection is finished, he goes around looking at everything, and says “Hmmmm” and from his face you can tell, maybe this we aren’t going to sell. Or yes, this we are. So it’s funny… everyone has an influence and has a role to play.

NMdaily: How do you think the fashion business has changed most in the last six decades?

Vittorio: Personally, I always thought that, before buying something, a lady would like to touch it and wear it and feel it. And I thought this was very important. But now, the Internet has changed things, especially when you have a customer that knows what you make, and knows you make quality. They know you don’t bluff with your customer. It’s become a kind of guarantee of product. So, today, our customer will come here, into Neiman’s, look at the merchandise, then go home, think about it and buy it on the computer. That’s really the biggest change in the business we’ve seen.

NMdaily: Missoni recently received a star on the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style. What does that honor mean to the family?

Vittorio: To get the recognition in L.A., it’s special. You feel special. For an Italian, Hollywood is the top. It’s Hollywood. It’s a mythos. For an Italian, when you talk about Hollywood, you think it’s something very far away, but very attractive.

And let me say, there are many similarities between an Italian woman and a Californian woman. There is a very Mediterranean spirit here. It’s the weather, it’s the relaxed feeling. It’s a very Italian attitude here of going out and enjoying life. Glamour and fashion go hand in hand. And yet it’s approachable and easy.

NMdaily: What does Neiman Marcus mean to Missoni?

Vittorio: Neiman Marcus is the history of our brand. My parents got the Neiman Marcus Award in 1972. It was like winning the Oscar in the fashion world.

We have learned a lot from Neiman’s and their customers. To me, Neiman Marcus has always been a name that means style, real American luxury and quality. It feels like it’s always been part of my life. I came n the Seventies to Dallas with my parents and my sister. We were just kids. I remember meeting Stanley Marcus, who was like a myth to me.

I was also here in Beverly Hills when they opened the store… quite a long time ago. So it’s very special to bring my son here for the first time, and pass on that tradition to him.

Ottavio Jr.: Missoni is about tradition and family. We are really a family just living as normally as we can.  We are all very connected and don’t lose this concept of family. It’s very important because we are also recognized as a brand because of the family.

Neiman Marcus will have pieces from the new flamenco-inspired Missoni Resort 2012 collection before any other retailer in the world.

Shop Missoni at NeimanMarcus.com and Neiman Marcus stores.