RIP OTTAVIO MISSONI - A BUSINESS MAN IN FASHION

Ottavio Missoni (11 February 1921 – 9 May 2013) with his wife Rosita
image Getty Images via http://www.direttanews.it/

A sportsman (a fine hurdler he participated in the 1948 Olympics), a fighter (he was in the Italian army at El Alamain and was made a prisoner of war for four years in Egypt) and a business man (he never considered himself a fashion person, and was once quoted as saying "Don't ask me about fashion, I don't understand it, I come from the world of knitting, and the same goes for my colleagues - I don't know them well, I just say hello") Ottavio Missoni founded his company with his wife Rosita in 1952.

Over the years Ottavio Missoni's company dictated its own path in fashion with its patterns, geometrics and abstract florals, changing to meet fashion's new desires yet never letting go of the essence of Missoni to produce clothes which provided a 'timeless chic'.

These images are a testament to it:

Missoni 1970s
image via http://killtheheel.blogspot.ch/

Missoni 1971 Vogue.it
photo by Barry Lategan

Missoni 1990
image via Vogue 1990

Missoni 2003
image via style.com

Missoni Prefall 2010
image via http://moda.pourfemme.it/

Missoni Resort 2013
image via http://moda.pourfemme.it/