The Missoni fashion house was established by Ottavio and Rosita Missoni in 1953 in Gallarate, a small town in northern Italy, as a knitwear company, and they showed their first collection in Milan in 1958. The house reached prominence in the 1970s, and in the 1990s, the company was taken over by Vittorio (who was born in 1954)—the unofficial ambassador of the brand—Angela (born in 1958), who is its creative director, and Luca, the designer. Angela's daughter Margherita has become the young face of the brand. Since its inception, the brand has expanded into fabrics and home goods, and it owns several Missoni hotels around the world. In 2011, Missoni launched a successful collaboration with Target, which expanded its appeal worldwide.
Ottavio Missoni and his wife, Rosita, in their Italian atelier fitting a drew in 1968.
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Ottavio with his wife and their daughter, Angela, in Italy in 1968.
Ottavio and Rosita take a bow on the runway after presenting their collection in March 1982.
The Missoni designers celebrate with their young grandchildren on stage after their spring-summer 1991 show in October 1990 in Milan.
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Rosita and Ottavio take a bow after presenting their spring-summer collection in October 1991.
The family poses at the first annual Ovarian Cancer Research Fund benefit in New York in 1997: (from left) Vittorio, Angela, Rosita, Margherita (Angela’s daughter), and Ottavio.
Most of the Missoni family pose together in Milan in January 2010. From left: Giacomo Missoni, Ottavio Missoni, Margherita Missoni, Ottavio Missoni, Rosita Missoni, Luca Missoni, Angela Missoni, Francesco Missoni, Vittorio Missoni, and Teresa Missoni.
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The finale of Missoni’s fall-winter 2010–11 collection in Milan in February 2010.
Wild prints and hats abounded on the runway of the spring-summer 2011 collection show in Milan in September 2010.
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Missoni expanded its signature prints into fabrics for the home, which are seen here at Milan’s Furnishing Accessories Exhibition in April 2011.
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Margherita (left) with Angela and Vittorio backstage at a fashion show in Singapore in May 2011.
Angela and Margherita in front of a Target store in New York in September 2011, marking the opening of Missoni's successful diffusion line with the megaretailer.
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A colorful look from the Missoni spring-summer 2012 collection, unveiled in Milan in September 2011.
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Vittorio and his wife, Maurizia, both on the flight that has gone missing off the coast of Venezuela, together in Miami in December 2011.
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Vittorio and his wife, Maurizia, both on the flight that has gone missing off the coast of Venezuela, together in Miami in December 2011.
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A look from the fall-winter 2012–13 collection, which was presented in Milan in February 2012.
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A finale look from Missoni’s spring-summer 2013 collection, presented in Milan in September.
Ottavio and Rosita Missoni at the International Herald Tribune’s Luxury Business Conference in Rome in November.
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