A deep dive into the archive is the unavoidable first step for every designer tasked with reviving a label’s luster. Filippo Grazioli, the newly appointed creative director at Missoni, thoroughly scanned the house’s past before establishing a refreshed set of codes for what he called “a new Missonism.”
Resort was Grazioli’s first outing for the label. An experienced designer, he comes with a string of stints at prestigious luxury houses under his belt: he worked at Margiela when its legendary founder was still there; at Hermès during Christophe Lemaire’s tenure; then he joined Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy and briefly at Burberry. Now Grazioli is trying to find his voice, and to give a new voice to a brand that has one of the strongest, most clear-cut visual identities in fashion.
His conscientious study of Missoni’s history brought about an appreciation for its use of color, its creative approach to unique graphics, patterns and textures, and for the inherent attitude of dynamism and modernity embedded in the brand’s identity since its inception. “I found a quote in the book Missonologia saying that Missoni’s colors are the alphabet of light,” Grazioli said. “It was sort of revelatory, and it helped shape my take on the brand’s new path.” He said he wanted to “turn on the light on Missoni, put it under a cone of light.”
To that end, he reorganized the chromatic palette into a more edited set of primary colors—cyan, magenta and yellow—illuminated by the use of white and framed by black contouring. His overall approach was to simplify, “get rid of the superfluous,” and give a more disciplined structure to the collection. The silhouette was also streamlined: body-con and vertical, to-the-knee and interrupted by high slits, it was given a fresher, sexier, younger spin.
The zig zag, the fiammato, the chevron and the patchwork, which are Missoni’s quintessential patterns, were also rejuvenated, blown-up and combined into lighter renditions. Intended as a wardrobe of easy separates —skintight slipdresses with lingerie trims, slit pencil skirts, cropped bustier tops, bellbottoms—resort highlighted Grazioli’s sensual, feminine, sleek take. It’ll be interesting to see how it’ll develop into a more articulated vision in his first catwalk show in September.
