The Missoni backstory is about making lemonade out of lemons, or more precisely, building a multimillion euro business out of knitted stripes.
When Ottavio and Rosita Missoni started making knitwear in the ‘50s, they didn’t have access to fancy sewing machines. In fact, the machines they had could only produce stripes, a pattern more associated with national flags, or chain gangs.
But it wasn’t long before the young couple turned their striped knit sweaters, dresses, and trousers into fashion stars. The stripes would later evolve into zigzags, which eventually became the Missoni brand signature.
Creative director Filippo Grazioli set out to honor those early days of the brand, spinning stripes into long, skinny coats, draped or wrapped dresses, knotted headscarves, and giant collars, sweaters and dresses made with chubby strips of yarn.
“I wanted to have fun, and to reinterpret the stripe in a new and more contemporary way,” said Grazioli who also drew on the first Missoni show venue, a swimming pool in Milan, for inspiration.
He dressed some of his models in striped swimming caps and worked aqua and other saturated 1950s shades, like flamingo pink, into the collection.
The big bubble collars and sweaters were made from thick loops of strips of yarn, and offset the collection’s slim shapes. They also added a comforting touch.
“I liked this idea of creating something protective, something soft and nice next to the body, and I really wanted to do it with a sense of humor,” said the designer.
His playful creations bounced down the runway in clouds of flamingo pink and white, or with painted-on diagonal stripes.
The designs didn’t always work. Some of the thick yarn creations looked like shag carpets, or Muppets, as in one baby blue sweater with a tall collar and a matching halterneck gown.
Some of the striped coats, too, were dizzying and resembled plushly upholstered sofas with too many stripes and thick fringe details. Grazioli needs to keep it simple, just like the Missonis did so many years ago.
