Missoni

In 1953 Ottavio 'Tai' and Rosita Missoni set up a small knitwear workshop in Gallarate, pairing his eye as a colourist and technician with her family's textile heritage to reinvent what knitwear could be.

Presenting their first Missoni collection in Milan in 1958, the couple pursued a singular vision: knitwear not as utility but as art, woven from dozens of threads into shimmering, painterly cloth.

In 1962 they reengineered Raschel knitting machines to create the flammata, or flame stitch, giving birth to the kaleidoscopic zigzag that would become the most recognisable signature in Italian fashion.

By the early 1970s Missoni had reached the peak of its influence, celebrated from Milan to New York for a freewheeling bohemian luxury built entirely on colour, texture, and pattern.

Today Missoni remains a family house and a beacon of joyful Italian craft, where the zigzag endures as a symbol of colour, creativity, and the belief that knitwear can be a work of art.