Missoni

Founded in 1953, Missoni is an Italian fashion label that is known for its wide variety of luxury goods, which, today include both knitwear like sweaters, dresses, skirts and scarves as well as accessories, handbags and shoes. Although it has enjoyed widespread success across the globe, becoming a go-to brand for jet-setters, celebrities and power brokers over the past several decades, it was during the 1970s that it found its spot at the top of the luxury market.

Missoni originally sold only high end knitwear, and although those goods remain popular, during the 1970s, Tai Missoni began to design costumes for the La Scala opera, as well as other projects. These ranged from tapestries to carpets, all of which expressed her unique fashion aesthetic which combines geometric shapes, abstract floral influences and a variety of textiles, including rayon, wool and silk. These styles, added to what have been universally vaunted as a daring and bold use of vivid colours made for a wholly unique effect that has been often emulated, both during the 1970s and since then. The best known pattern from the 1970s, still in use today, however, is their signature zig-zag pattern, which features a multi-coloured horizontal zig-zag that may be as wide as an inch or two.

The company did not neglect its signature knits, however. It was noted for reviving the best features of the 1920s knit styles with swing coats, pullovers, trousers and skirts. Missoni also succeeded in incorporating the use of machine knitting into their designs, without losing the luxury value that they had carefully cultivated over the past twenty years. Instead, they managed to make their goods both unique, despite the conventional machinery used to make them, and modern, despite the traditional materials used to create them. As a result, during the 1970s, a Missoni sweater, scarf, skirt or other knitwear piece of apparel became a status symbol for fashion devotees, while also growing the reputation of Missoni's native Milan, Italy as a centre for fashion and design.

During the 1970s, the Missoni label's design work was rewarded with numerous prestigious awards. These included the Neiman Marcus award in 1973, the Bath Museum of Costume Dress of the Year award in 1974 and the American Printed Fabric Council Tommy award in 1976. In 1976, Missoni also expanded its geographic footprint, opening its first boutiques in both Milan and New York City.