Few fashion house’s visuals are as instantly recognizable as Missoni’s. Their rainbow-hued zig-zags and fiammato patterns have had the impact of ante-litteram logos since the ’60s, when Rosita and the late Tai Missoni launched the label. The charismatic founders imbued the brand with a natural artistic sense, a flair for innovation, and free-spirited originality, intertwined with genuine family values. The Missonis have been running their company since the beginning, with Angela at the helm as creative director from 1996.
It’s a fact that family-owned medium-sized companies are today under strain, as a profitable expansion into global markets requires hefty investments of money and resources. The pandemic has made things decidedly worse, hastening the need for new directions. Welcoming change with considerable panache, Angela announced last week her decision to step up into a new role as the company’s president, leaving the creative direction for now to her longtime right hand Alberto Caliri.
With expertise in textile design and an artistic eye for color, Caliri has been working alongside Angela Missoni since 2006 as design director. Ça va sans dire that he knows the label’s codes and way of thinking inside-out. He will ensure continuity—or at least a soft landing into new creative territories: “What I’m trying to do is to lighten things up, making the approach more natural and the vibe easier,” he said during a showroom appointment. “The idea is to edit rather than add, trying to find a new equilibrium. At the beginning for instance, the use of color was far more spontaneous and heartfelt, less calculated and forced.”
Resort is clearly a transitional collection, leading to what will be Caliri’s first fashion show in September. It also brings into the fold the M Missoni line, relaunched by Margherita Missoni in 2018 and discontinued in March after just a few seasons. It’s a marketing move which emphasizes the label’s focus on broadening its reach, appealing to the much sought-after young audience. Hence a wider offer of hoodies, denim pieces, and track pants in spongy, pastel-hued textures or in bright and shiny quilted nylon.
Not straying too far from familiar territory, Caliri proposed a “urban pleasurewear wardrobe,” as he called it, of sensible separates easily mixed and matched in soft color combinations. The silhouette is lean and elongated; volumes are enveloping and comforting, while a nod to luxe sportswear introduces a note of dynamism. Minidresses were embroidered with geometries of sequins, while ankle-grazing tunics dusted with metallic speckles looked liquid. “There’s no radical change,” said Caliri. “It’s just about reaffirming some strong principles. Angela’s sequined dresses were terrific. That sensation of brightness and light, that femininity—it feels strong and uncomplicated. For me, it’s about going back to a sentiment, to a certain spirit of the beginnings, rather than reworking motifs, patterns, or graphics.”
