A celebration of the unmistakable Missoni style, whose innovative approach mixes color, pattern, and matter with an extraordinary sense of balance and elegance.

This handsome volume is the only book to present the story behind the remarkable fashion house of Missoni, whose midcentury designs for patterns and textiles have become iconic throughout the world. Rosita and Ottavio Missoni launched their eponymous fashion house in 1953, combining art and fashion to create a unique style recognized all over the world. Since it was established, Missoni has been known for expertly produced, lightweight, delicate knit separates that combine innovative and fractured stripes, plaids, patchworks, ethnic effects, mosaics, zigzags, and flame stitch patterns in vivid and striking color combinations. A Missoni sweater is truly a luxurious, exclusive object, and this volume documents the venerable past and the multifaceted present of a signature fashion house that made Italy a center of fashion and design innovation. With previously unpublished material from both the family and the company archives, this volume is a look into the creative and artistic world of Missoni. Missoni is also known for its collaborations with great photographers, illustrators, historians, connoisseurs, artists, writers, journalists, and fashion editors of the day. This book also explores many of the world s great contemporary talents that have contributed to Missoni designs, including Balthus, Antonio Lopez, Diana Vreeland, Anna Piaggi, Enzo Biagi, Tonino Guerra, Brunetta, Maria Pezzi, and many others. The book is organized into chapters as follows: Missoni by Missoni / Beauty and Harmony - the origins of a fashion family / International Triumph - from the 1967 fashion show scandal to the 1973 Neiman Marcus Fashion Award / Casa Missoni / Missoni and the Performing Arts / An Art Style - lines, zigzags, and informal creations.