‘Of the two of us, Ottavio was the artist,’ says 93-year-old Rosita Missoni, recounting the story of how their chance meeting on a train not only led to their marriage, but also the creation of the eponymous knitwear brand, famous the world over for its iconic zig-zag designs.
Both were in London during the 1948 Olympic Games when their paths crossed while taking a day trip to Brighton. ‘He was a young athlete, and I was on study vacation,’ she explains. ‘The mother of a girl I was travelling with told me there was a beautiful young man who was looking my way.’
Although she remembers blushing with embarrassment at the time, once back in Italy she invited Ottavio to her birthday party. ‘He showed up with a drawing representing us as husband and wife with lots of children,’ she says, and the memory of that day still makes her smile.
This bold and romantic display of wishful thinking is made more extraordinary by the fact that, unbeknown to one another, both were involved in the fashion industry.
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Stylish Rosita was from a family of textile industrialists, while Ottavio was producing knitted sportswear in collaboration with a fellow athlete. The couple’s marriage in 1953 presented a perfect opportunity for a new creative partnership, and the Missoni label was born.
The combination of Rosita’s sartorial vision and Ottavio’s formidable creative flair meant the Missoni style was soon exported all over the world. Informal yet elegant, the look they established was both instantly recognisable and timeless.
Inspired by artists including Wassily Kandinski and Paul Klee, Ottavio’s iconic designs (his graphic and chromatic charts always worked up on squared paper) were the start of a new chapter in the history of Italian fashion.
By the 1960s, with the Missoni brand enjoying international success, Ottavio began looking for a place to build a factory, eventually settling on Sumirago in the Province of Varese, north-west of Milan. The choice delighted Rosita, who had grown up in the area.
‘There was even a view of Monte Rosa, which I had been able to see from my parents’ house when I was a child,’ she recalls.
As the business continued to grow, it made sense to set up home nearby and so they built the spacious, two-storey villa that remains Rosita’s home to this day.
Situated in the heart of a large, lush garden, the house is the hub of both the family and the business – three generations of the Missoni family live nearby, and the factory is visible in the distance, beyond the trees.
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From the rugs on the floors to the art on the walls – collected over a lifetime – the house is filled with colour and pattern. Some of the paintings and drawings are by Ottavio, who died in 2013; others are by friends who left them behind as a way to say ‘thank you’ for having enjoyed the Missonis’ hospitality.
The majority are works of art that Rosita and Ottavio bought together over the years, the last being a detailed diorama of a library, made by a Japanese artist. Of all the art in the house, Rosita particularly treasures a collection of 10 Sonia Delaunay fashion gouaches that hang in her bedroom.
‘Sonia Delaunay was my icon. Her art and her multi-faceted applications of her art were a great inspiration for my work,’ she says.
As well as the works on the walls, there are vibrant and varied collections of ceramics and curios wherever one looks: from a cabinet filled with Susie Cooper and Clarice Cliff tea sets to quirky miniature mushrooms and paper flowers. Rosita has a story for them all; everything contains a memory.
A favourite is the coffee table in the family sitting room. ‘It’s based on a design I fell in love with during a trip to Paris,’ she explains. ‘I had it copied and then, for fun, I let my two talented granddaughters, Margherita and Jennifer – at the ages of 11 and nine – decorate it.’
Her son Luca, Jennifer’s father, sealed their handiwork with a layer of resin lacquer to protect it. ‘He decided it was a unique piece of family naïf art and it has become my most prized possession.’
The rug, by Loredana Longo, features the words ‘Where there is a will there is way’. - Valentina Sommariva/Living Inside -
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It is evident that family is important to Rosita, and so it’s no surprise to learn that her favourite room is the dining room, with its large slatted elm dining table by Bruno Mathsson and Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs. ‘They are the most comfortable chairs – I have them in all my homes,’ she says, adding that she enjoys sitting around the table with family and friends, lingering long after the meal is over.
‘The dining room is the core of my home,’ she continues. ‘It’s a kind of veranda with sliding glass doors, overlooking the superb view of the Alps and Monte Rosa, and a magical wild garden with flowers for every season of the year.’
Before saying goodbye, Rosita points out a greetings card that Ottavio designed for her 80th birthday. Among dozens of red hearts, a distinguished man with tails and tuba and a bouquet of flowers in his hand sends a message: ‘please don’t stop’. He needn’t have worried. At 93, Rosita shows no signs of slowing down.