Rosita Missoni

Rosita Missoni was an Italian knitwear designer. She and her husband Ottavio Missoni co-founded Italian luxury fashion house Missoni.

Early life

Rosita Jelmini was born in Golasecca, northern Italy, on 20 November 1931. Her family were textile artisans based in the Milan region who specialized in the manufacture of shawls

Career

She met Ottavio Missoni in 1948 when he was participating in the London Olympics, 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.
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

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. 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.