Rosita Missoni
{{Short description|Italian fashion designer (1931–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rosita Missoni
| image = Rosita Missoni 2019 (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption = Rosita in 2019
| birth_name = Rosita Jelmini
| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|11|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Golasecca, Italy
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|1|1|1931|11|20|df=yes}}
| death_place = Sumirago, Italy
| occupation = {{hlist|Creative director|Fashion designer|Luxury businesswoman}}
| boards = Missoni
| spouse = {{Marriage|Ottavio Missoni|1953|2013|reason=died}}
| children = 3, including Vittorio
| relatives =
| website = {{url|https://www.missoni.com/}}
}}
Rosita Missoni (née Jelmini; 20 November 1931 – 1 January 2025) was an Italian knitwear designer. She and her husband Ottavio Missoni co-founded Italian luxury fashion house Missoni.{{Cite web|url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/gallery/rosita-missoni-photos-1236786413/|title=Rosita Missoni Matriarch, Cofounder and Designer of the Missoni Luxury Brand Dies at 93 [PHOTOS]|first=Tonya|last=Blazio-Licorish|date=2 January 2025}}
Early life
Rosita Jelmini was born in Golasecca, northern Italy, on 20 November 1931.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/fashion/rosita-missoni-dead.html|title = Rosita Missoni, Who Turned Zigzag Sweaters Into High Fashion, Dies at 93|date = 2 January 2025|accessdate = 2 January 2025|work = The New York Times|url-access = limited|last = Wertheim|first = Bonnie}} Her family were textile artisans based in the Milan region who specialized in the manufacture of shawls{{cite web|access-date=9 January 2025 |date=2 January 2025 |title=Rosita Missoni, cofondatrice avec son époux de la maison de mode éponyme, est morte à 93 ans |url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/mode/rosita-missoni-cofondatrice-avec-son-epoux-de-la-maison-de-mode-eponyme-est-morte-a-93-ans_6990572.html |website=Franceinfo|language=fr}}{{cite news |access-date=9 January 2025 |date=3 January 2025 |first1=Sabrina |last1=Champenois |periodical=Libération |title=Mode : avec la disparition de Rosita Missoni, l'Italie perd sa reine de la maille |url=https://www.liberation.fr/lifestyle/mode/mode-avec-la-disparition-de-rosita-missoni-litalie-perd-sa-reine-de-la-maille-20250103_WWCQV2GPARER3JZDYICRP3DD5I/ |archive-date=3 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250103213522/https://www.liberation.fr/lifestyle/mode/mode-avec-la-disparition-de-rosita-missoni-litalie-perd-sa-reine-de-la-maille-20250103_WWCQV2GPARER3JZDYICRP3DD5I/ |url-status=live }}
Career
She met Ottavio Missoni in 1948 when he was participating in the London Olympics,{{cite news|access-date=9 January 2025 |date=2 January 2025 |first1=Scarlett |issn=0261-3077 |language=en-GB |last1=Conlon |periodical=The Guardian |title=Italian fashion designer and 'colour genius' Rosita Missoni dies aged 93 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/jan/02/rosita-missoni-italian-fashion-designer-dies-aged-93}} and married him in 1953.
In 1953, she and Ottavio started a small knitwear store in Gallarate. The business would become the fashion house Missoni. They later moved to Sumirago where they built a factory. They were part of a group of Italian designers whose ready-to-wear clothing became popular globally in the 1950s and 1960s. The brand became famous for its colorful knitted garments with zigzag patterns, made on "Raschel" machines like those used by Rosita Missoni's family for making shawls. Rosita Missoni cites Sonia Delaunay as one of her inspirations.{{cite web|access-date=9 January 2025 |date=22 May 2017 |title=Les nuances de Rosita Missoni pour le printemps à la maison |url=https://madame.lefigaro.fr/deco-design/les-nuances-de-rosita-missoni-220517-132369 |website=Madame Figaro|language=fr}}
From 1997, the couple's children, Angela, Luca, and Vittorio Missoni, took over the management of the fashion house, sharing the creative and financial aspects, while Rosita Missoni developed Missoni Home and dedicated herself to interior design by reusing old patterns.
Personal life and death
File:Rosita Jelmini and Ottavio Missoni 1975.jpg in 1975]]
She and Ottavio Missoni married in 1953. They had three children, all of whom became involved with the Missoni business; their son, Vittorio Missoni, was CEO until his death in a plane crash in 2013. Ottavio Missoni died later that year.
Rosita Missoni lived in a house in Sumirago since 1970, which she decorated in a colourful and exuberant way, with a certain proportion of pieces found at flea markets.{{cite news|access-date=9 January 2025 |date=3 April 2022 |first1=Scarlett |issn=0029-7712 |language=en-GB |last1=Conlon |periodical=The Observer |title=Inside the joyful Lombardy home of Rosita Missoni |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/03/inside-the-joyful-lombardy-home-of-rosita-missoni}} She regularly received journalists there.
Missoni died from complications of pneumonia at her home in Sumirago, on 1 January 2025, at the age of 93.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ansa.it/canale_lifestyle/notizie/moda/2025/01/02/addio-a-rosita-missoni-con-lei-il-mito-delle-trame-multicolori_154b647d-5e51-4863-8b06-b6a0ccc20d5d.html|title=Addio a Rosita Missoni, con lei il mito delle trame multicolori|first=|last=|date=2 January 2025|access-date=4 January 2025|archive-date=4 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250104102759/https://www.ansa.it/canale_lifestyle/notizie/moda/2025/01/02/addio-a-rosita-missoni-con-lei-il-mito-delle-trame-multicolori_154b647d-5e51-4863-8b06-b6a0ccc20d5d.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Rosita Missoni obituary: indomitable Italian fashion designer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/rosita-missoni-obituary-indomitable-italian-fashion-designer-qzkf8ckwj |access-date=30 January 2025 |publisher=The Times |date=30 January 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|4058954}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Missoni, Rosita}}
Category:20th-century Italian businesswomen
Category:Italian women fashion designers
Category:Italian fashion designers