Missoni, the Sumirago Fashion House

Missoni is often considered one of the most beautiful fashion houses in the entire world. Although every design they put forth may not be cutting-edge, the style is always there. They are one of the only fashion brands to carry a reputation for consistent beauty. Missoni's powerful tradition of creating new products has trickled down to their competitors. The business has meager beginnings, starting in 1953 to little acclaim and eventually building a lavish and luxurious fashion empire. The Missoni name has come a long way since the days of a basement studio in Sumirago, Milan.

Rosita and Ottavio Missoni met during the 1948 Olympic Games in London, England. Carrying on a relationship for the next five years, the two wed in 1953 and decided to take the plunge into fashion designing. They started a very small knitwear operation in the aforementioned Milan basement, and after much hard work and meager sales, the line started to take off in the 1960s.

It was during this time that the brand Missoni began to turn heads due to the colorful palettes, unique textures and a wide range of fabrics. The Missoni's definitely had more than one ace in the deck, proving time and again that they could produce chic originality on demand.

Although Missoni picked up a head of steam in Italy, their brand was relatively unknown around the world. This all changed when Diana Vreeland of American Vogue took a liking to one of Missoni's fashions and mentioned them in a 1970s edition of the magazine. Of course, Vogue was the bible to fashionable American women in the 1970s. If it was printed in those crisp, clean pages, it had to be right. After the article ran, Missoni was on the forefront of the American woman's mind, and their fashion sales exploded.

The family business started to grow tremendously. There was no possible way that the couple, juggling children and work now, could keep up with the demand - even with a few employees. Suddenly, the small family brand had become a conglomerate.

Many employees were hired and a large factory was built to handle the demand. Missoni was now found in some of the world's most selective markets, and the sale numbers were huge. Over the years, the Missoni's children have stepped in to help keep the line young and modern, appealing to younger women.

When the line started, the husband and wife couple created a unique logo that is their trademark: colored strips on all their clothing. With the fashions Missoni releases today, it's like playing "Where's Waldo?" when locating the stripes on some of the items, but they are still there.

This tradition is something the younger Missoni's have kept alive and well. The tradition of Missoni is what makes them so unique in their clothing. While a lot of brands have drastically changed with the times and become unrecognizable, Missoni has modernized beautifully, never losing their originality. This is one of the many reasons they're still sought after today.