Missoni co-founder Rosita Missoni dies

Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the Italian luxury retailer Missoni, has reportedly died on Thursday at the age of 93, trade magazine WWD has reported. She founded Missoni in 1953 with her husband Ottavio Missoni, who passed away in May 2013 at the age of 93.

Rosita Missoni was born in 1931 in Golasecca, about 60 kilometres from Milan. Near her birthplace there was a factory for scarves and embroidered fabrics, founded by her maternal grandparents, the Torranis. Both her parents, Angelo Jelmini and Diamante Torrani, worked there.

After graduating in modern languages, Rosita Missoni went to London in June 1948 to improve her language skills. There she met Ottavio Missoni, who was competing in the Olympic Games as part of the Italian national athletics team. That same year he opened a knitwear shop with his friend Giorgio Oberweger in Trieste, in north-eastern Italy. There he offered wool tracksuits manufactured in a small factory with a total of four machines. A year later, Rosita Missoni began working in the creative side of the family business, following in her father’s footsteps.

After their wedding in April 1953, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni joined forces and set up a small knitwear workshop in the basement of their house in Gallarate. About five years later, they presented a small fashion collection called Milano-Simpathy at La Rinascente, which laid the foundation for the current brand, in which a brightly coloured striped shirt dress stands out in particular.