Rosita Missoni, matriarch of Italian fashion house that made zigzag knitwear iconic, dies aged 93 Rosita Missoni, the matriarch of the iconic Italian fashion house that made colorful zigzag-patterned knitwear high fashion and helped launch Italian ready-to-wear, died Thursday, a company official said.
When she met and married Ottavio Missoni, they founded their eponymous fashion house in Gallarate that would turn into a fashion dynasty, with the couple’s three children and their offspring involved in expanding the brand.
Local officials offered condolences and recalled Missoni’s ties to the small northern city of Gallarate where the Missoni brand was born in an artisan’s shop in 1953.
The Missonis got their first break in 1958, when the Rinascente department store commissioned 500 colorful vertically striped shirt dresses — the first to carry the Missoni label.
Missoni SpA confirmed the death and planned a statement along with the family later, said Alberto Gualeni, an international spokesperson for the company in Milan.
