Decorating
Fashion House Missoni Dresses Homes to Impress
Get to know the Italian fashion house that has mastered the art of colour, pattern and layering in homewares and furniture design
Missoni has been well entrenched in high-style fashion for more than six generations, with a look that can range from subtle sophistication to psychedelic statement-making. Certainly, the Italian dynasty has created one of the most recognisable brands by using vibrant colour and geometric patterns, which are underpinned by an ethos of mixing and matching, and since 1983 this has extended to the home. So in the spirit of dazzling interiors, here’s what you need to know about Missoni designs and how to incorporate them in your home.
The 1970s proved to be a golden age for Missoni and the brand branched into fragrance in 1982, followed by home textiles under the label Missoni Home, in 1983. Rosita’s family also had a factory that made bed and bath products in Sumirago, which manufactured all of Missoni Home’s wares.
Inspiration
The Missonis took inspiration from the modern art of the era, and the work of artists, such as Giacomo Balla and Sonia Delaunay, who influenced their early designs with stripes and zigzags running hot.
Browse more boldly coloured bedrooms
The Missonis took inspiration from the modern art of the era, and the work of artists, such as Giacomo Balla and Sonia Delaunay, who influenced their early designs with stripes and zigzags running hot.
Browse more boldly coloured bedrooms
They were also inspired by the natural beauty of Sumirago, and Rosita continues to make her home in the town, living in a villa with a garden filled with flowers. According to an interview Rosita gave The Telegraph UK this year, she asks her gardener not sweep up the leaves, once autumn comes, for “they make amazing ‘rugs’ on the ground”.
Kaleidoscopic colour
Rosita has remarked that “colour is the story of our life,” while “life is more with colours” was Ottavio’s mantra. He had a love for and keen understanding of colour, writing in his biography Una Vita Sul Filo Di Lana (A Life to the Wire), “I like comparing colour to music: only seven notes and yet innumerable melodies have been composed.”
As such, Missoni products have dazzling colour combinations that range from vivid and vibrant to muted and subdued, taking in all the colours of the rainbow plus more.
How to be truly confident with colour
Rosita has remarked that “colour is the story of our life,” while “life is more with colours” was Ottavio’s mantra. He had a love for and keen understanding of colour, writing in his biography Una Vita Sul Filo Di Lana (A Life to the Wire), “I like comparing colour to music: only seven notes and yet innumerable melodies have been composed.”
As such, Missoni products have dazzling colour combinations that range from vivid and vibrant to muted and subdued, taking in all the colours of the rainbow plus more.
How to be truly confident with colour
Signature zigzag
The zigzag is one very easy way to recognise Missoni. It evolved from their striped patterns in the 1960s and was, and has continued to be, applied to many of its fashion and homeware products.
The zigzag is one very easy way to recognise Missoni. It evolved from their striped patterns in the 1960s and was, and has continued to be, applied to many of its fashion and homeware products.
Production techniques
Missoni uses artisan production techniques depending on their design and pattern, combining hand-craftsmanship with innovative technology. The company has always experimented with production methods and weaves, playing with digital prints for a watercolour effect or jacquard weaving on an age-old loom for textural elements.
Missoni uses artisan production techniques depending on their design and pattern, combining hand-craftsmanship with innovative technology. The company has always experimented with production methods and weaves, playing with digital prints for a watercolour effect or jacquard weaving on an age-old loom for textural elements.
Mix and match
‘Mix and match’ has been part of Missoni’s canon of fashion since the 1960s, and the brand has applied this to homewares since the 1980s. You’ll often see Missoni wares styled with a mixture of patterns but united by a consistent colour palette or one standout hue.
‘Mix and match’ has been part of Missoni’s canon of fashion since the 1960s, and the brand has applied this to homewares since the 1980s. You’ll often see Missoni wares styled with a mixture of patterns but united by a consistent colour palette or one standout hue.
Collaboration
Missoni has a number of famous collaborations under its belt, one of the most recent being Missoni for Target, which sold out of the design house’s products in record time on its first introduction. Another is the the fabrics Rosita chose for Philippe Starck’s Mademoiselle chair, produced by Kartell, seen here.
Missoni has a number of famous collaborations under its belt, one of the most recent being Missoni for Target, which sold out of the design house’s products in record time on its first introduction. Another is the the fabrics Rosita chose for Philippe Starck’s Mademoiselle chair, produced by Kartell, seen here.
The collection includes a series of vibrantly coloured and patterned fabrics including:
- ‘Vevey’, a kaleidoscope of flowers in red or burnt tones; and
- ‘Cartagena’, an elegant white and black flower graffiti print.
More Missoni Designs
Curtains
This luxe room is evidence of the mix-and-match ethos of Missoni, with chairs, cushions and curtains in stripes and zigzags rendered in the same palette.
Curtains
This luxe room is evidence of the mix-and-match ethos of Missoni, with chairs, cushions and curtains in stripes and zigzags rendered in the same palette.
Carpets
Missoni carpet is laid as a stair runner in this elegant home and the colour palette, which combines seemingly contrasting hues, adds punch to the otherwise neutral space.
Missoni carpet is laid as a stair runner in this elegant home and the colour palette, which combines seemingly contrasting hues, adds punch to the otherwise neutral space.
Rugs
This Seattle home is a symphony of colour with each of the hues in the Missoni rug picked up throughout the living room. There are velvet blue cushions, gold and cream cushions, a brown ottoman and a gold and orange artwork above the fireplace.
This Seattle home is a symphony of colour with each of the hues in the Missoni rug picked up throughout the living room. There are velvet blue cushions, gold and cream cushions, a brown ottoman and a gold and orange artwork above the fireplace.
Towels
Colourful hand towels add a Missoni touch into this cool and calm bathroom and can be an ideal choice for those wanting to experiment with colour and pattern, but not ready to add too much.
Colourful hand towels add a Missoni touch into this cool and calm bathroom and can be an ideal choice for those wanting to experiment with colour and pattern, but not ready to add too much.
Collections
When Missoni adopts a monochromatic colour palette you know its going to go big and bold on pattern. The chair, curtains, bedspread, runner and cushion in this range are in varying floral and spotted patterns; but all complement each other in black and white.
TELL US
Do you have Missoni in your home? Upload a picture to the Comments section below.
MORE
Browse a gallery of home decor products
When Missoni adopts a monochromatic colour palette you know its going to go big and bold on pattern. The chair, curtains, bedspread, runner and cushion in this range are in varying floral and spotted patterns; but all complement each other in black and white.
TELL US
Do you have Missoni in your home? Upload a picture to the Comments section below.
MORE
Browse a gallery of home decor products
Missoni exploded on to the scene in 1953 when husband and wife Ottavio and Rosita Missoni established a small knitwear factory in Gallarate, Italy. Ottavio was an Olympic athlete with a keen eye for fashion and colour. Rosita had refined technical skills, and the foresight to buy yarn-spinning machines that would provide them with greater creative potential to work with colour and pattern. They produced their first dress under the Missoni brand in 1958; in dazzling colour and pattern, it set the tone for more than six generations to come.
Receiving acclaim from fashion editors and stylists for its progressive and colourful style the business prospered, and in 1969 the couple moved the manufacture of Missoni to the town of Sumirago, where it’s still housed today.