In 1953, Ottavio “Tai” Missoni (1921–2013) and Rosita Missoni (b. 1931) opened a small knitwear shop in Gallarate, Italy, paving the way for what would become an iconic style of colorful chevron knit.
Missoni began with a tracksuit, which featured zippers down the legs because, as Rosita recalls it, “Tai was too lazy to take off his shoes when putting them on.” The couple’s fashion really took off, though, once they discovered the Raschel knitting machine on a trip to a shawl factory. The machine enabled the Missonis to knit multiple colors in a zigzag pattern, a motif that would go on to become synonymous with the Missoni brand across everything from its alluring vintage day dresses and sweaters to its purses, seating and rugs.
Missoni held its first fashion show in Florence in 1967 and caused a bit of a sensation when the models’ Lurex dresses proved translucent under the lights at the Pitti Palace. Scandal aside, the show went down in history as a hit, and the Missonis soon made their debut in the United States with the help of legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who gave the variegated Missoni stripe the Vogue seal of approval, saying, “Who says a rainbow has seven colors? It has many shades.” (It was also Vreeland who reportedly introduced the Missonis to Neiman Marcus president Stanley Marcus, effectively shepherding the brand to the American market.)
Missoni’s many-shaded rainbow would soon become an emblem of the 1970s fashion scene, earning the brand a permanent place in the fashion canon. In 1973, the New York Times proclaimed: “Missoni’s weaved garments have ended up universal materialistic trifles, as Vuitton sacks and Gucci shoes.” By then, Ottavio had been creating tapestries, and some of his knitted fabrics were shown in an exhibition at Galleria Il Naviglio in Venice in 1975.
The brand branched into the home market in 1983, with Rosita overseeing this new venture, Missoni Home, which included furniture, textiles and accessories. Daughter Angela succeeded her mother at the helm of the brand, where she served as creative director until 2021 and is currently president; her brother Luca is CEO, while her daughter Margherita was creative director of M Missoni, a modestly priced offshoot that was discontinued in 2021.
Find vintage Ottavio Missoni tapestries, rugs and other furniture today on 1stDibs.
Large Ottavio Missoni Wool Tapestry Wall Hanging
By Ottavio Missoni
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Ottavio Missoni, Italian (1921 - 2013) Title: #2 Year: circa 1980's Medium: Woolen Tapestry mounted to support board for hanging Size: 46 in. x 92 in. (116.84 cm x 233.68 cm)
Wool
Three Body Problem : contemporary 3D work of art
Located in New York, NY
Contemporary artwork by New York artist David Rockwell. Oil and 3D printing on stretched canvas and wood frame. Rockwell makes paintings that live on the borders between traditional art practice, design, technology, and science. He enjoys the visual potential inherent in each of these interests; art history as an aggregate of thousands of years of representation, letterforms as brushstrokes of language, layering as a palimpsest of life lived, simple algorithms that give rise to complex forms in nature. Rockwell uses 3D printing to assemble computer modeled surfaces on both canvas and wood panels. Art historical references and figuration share space with pattern, texture and grid systems. This process also enables him to dive deeper through iteration (working in series, recombining elements) so that connections and themes emerge between individual paintings over time. “Three Body Problem...
Canvas, Wood, Oil
$1,350
H 51 in W 16 in
Zig Zag 16-3-2 - Original Modern Oil Painting Geometric Stripes with Texture
By Petra Rös-Nickel
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Petra Rös-Nickel’s original paintings merge playful forms, bright colors and architectural compositions in oil and mixed media on canvas. Her contemporary artworks contain rich textu...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
$1,800
H 47 in W 16 in
Code Geometric Black - Colorful Oil Painting Stripes and Pattern with Texture
By Petra Rös-Nickel
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Petra Rös-Nickel’s original paintings merge playful forms, bright colors, and architectural compositions in oil and mixed media on canvas. Her contemporary artworks contain rich text...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
$4,800
H 24 in W 24 in
'Unraveled' Abstract Geometric Wall Piece Wood /Paint/Textile Black/White/Grays
By Jean Feinberg
Located in Wellesley, MA
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS OF THIS WORK WILL BE SENT UPON REQUEST: Jean Feinberg is a NY based artist whose wall constructions - paintings on found wood and paintings on painted plywood - a...
Mixed Media, Burlap, Muslin, Oil, Wood Panel, Gesso
Ars Poetica 18 : contemporary collage
By Jacqueline Dee Parker
Located in New York, NY
Jacqueline Dee Parker’s collages are interdisciplinary in approach and concept. Her materials include antique literature and music books and other ephemera. Just as words, sounds, an...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
$4,200
H 39 in W 47 in
Turquoise with Dots - Textural Abstract Geometric Colorful Oil Painting
By Petra Rös-Nickel
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Petra Rös-Nickel’s original paintings merge playful forms, bright colors, and architectural compositions in oil and mixed media on canvas. Her contemporary artworks contain rich text...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
$3,800
H 50 in W 50 in
625 Circles - Large Green Abstract Geometric Squares Circles Original Painting
By Brandon Neher
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Califonia artist, Brandon Neher captivates with his figurative abstract artworks that seamlessly blend German Expressionism and Pop Abstraction. His original paintings on canvas embo...
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
Clef
By Linda Schmidt
Located in New York, NY
In Clef, Linda Kamille Schmidt composes a lyrical fabric collage that echoes the rhythm of music and memory. Layered bands of translucent and opaque textiles are stitched into a vibr...
Fabric, Mixed Media
$3,400
H 48 in W 48 in
576 Circles V3 - Blue Abstract Geometric Pattern Original Painting on Canvas
By Brandon Neher
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Califonia artist, Brandon Neher captivates with his figurative abstract artworks that seamlessly blend German Expressionism and Pop Abstraction. His original paintings on canvas embo...
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$407
H 11.82 in W 11.82 in D 0.67 in
Old Black Schoolboard Minimalist Small painting 30x30cm by Anastasia Vasilyeva
By Anastasia Vasilyeva
Located in Zofingen, AG
Monochrome abstract conceptual artwork uses the principle of color field painting. 30x30x1,7cm, Ready to hang and signed on the backside. Shipping worldwide in a safe package with ...
Gesso, Canvas, Acrylic, Engraving
Ars Poetica 8 : contemporary collage
By Jacqueline Dee Parker
Located in New York, NY
Jacqueline Dee Parker’s collages are interdisciplinary in approach and concept. Her materials include antique literature and music books and other ephemera. Just as words, sounds, an...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic
$2,700
H 48 in W 30 in
OPEN EQUIVALENCE 1 - acrylic on cut linen with cotton thread -Abstract Geometric
By Linda King Ferguson
Located in Signal Mountain, TN
In this sculptural piece, Linda King Ferguson has cut a piece of linen canvas into a half-diamond shape, with an ellipsis cut-out close to the scalloped right edge. A red cotton thread completes the second half of the diamond shape, then hangs from the bottom corner, evoking the image of a kite. King Ferguson's paintings are abstractions of the female body. She chooses to use linen...
Cotton, Linen, Thread, Acrylic
Number 1, Large Woolen Tapestry Wall Art by Missoni
By Ottavio Missoni
Located in Long Island City, NY
A woolen tapestry by Missoni circa 1980. Artist: Ottavio Missoni, Italian (1921 - 2013) Title: #1 Year: circa 1980's Medium: Woolen Tapestry Size: 67 ...
Wool
Sold
H 28.5 in W 60.5 in
Number 3 - Rectangles, Geometric Tapestry Wall Hanging by Ottavio Missoni
By Ottavio Missoni
Located in Long Island City, NY
A woolen tapestry by Missoni circa 1980. Artist: Ottavio Missoni, Italian (1921 - 2013) Title: #3 Year: circa 1980's Medium: Woolen Tapestry Size: 21 in. x 53 in. (53.34 cm x 1...
Wool