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
$4,800
H 24 in W 24 in
'Untitled' 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. NOTE COLOR OF WOOD IS NOT QUITE AS YELLOW AS IIT APPEARS IN PHOTO AND IS IN KEEPING WITH OTHERS IN THIS SERIES: Jean Fein...
Gesso, Oil, Wood Panel, Muslin
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
$1,700
H 35 in W 31 in
Dynamic Tension 3 - Original Geometric Contemporary Abstract Painting
By Heny Steinberg
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mexican artist Heny Steinberg’s mid-century modern inspired abstract artworks invite us to travel from the map to the localized event. She is suggesting that the spatial memory guid...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$3,600
H 48 in W 48 in
576 Circles V.5 - Original Contemporary Blue Tone Abstract Geometric Painting
By Brandon Neher
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Brandon Neher is a California artist whose original paintings embody a profound exploration of space, structure, and balance, infused with a touch of modern minimalism. Drawing inspi...
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$3,400
H 44 in W 44 in
484 Circles V.2 - Original Contemporary Blue Tone Abstract Geometric Painting
By Brandon Neher
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Brandon Neher is a California artist whose original paintings embody a profound exploration of space, structure, and balance, infused with a touch of modern minimalism. Drawing inspi...
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic
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
$21,700
H 63 in W 38 in D 0.75 in
"Framed & Draped: Material Collection" Lia Cook, Contemporary Wall Textile
By Lia Cook
Located in Wilton, CT
"Framed and Draped: Material Collection", acrylic on abaca, dyes on rayon; woven, 63" x 38", 1989. This contemporary abstract mixed media tapestry was done by California-based Ameri...
Fabric, Tapestry, Thread, Dye, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$9,200
H 57.75 in W 6.25 in
GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT 1969 “Twin Planes” Screenprint on Canvas
By Kenneth Noland
Located in New York, NY
Kenneth Noland "Twin Planes" USA, 1969 Screenprint on canvas laminated to board From an edition of 200 6.25"H 58.75"W (artwork) Original Period frame Overall good condition 'Twin ...
Lithograph, Canvas, Screen
Ars Poetica 16 : 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
$880
H 41.5 in W 34.2 in
Quiet Room from Above, Bauhaus Geometric Interior, Nude Tones Patchwork, 2024
By Zita Chocarro
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is a beautiful patchwork piece by Zita Chocarro. Her exploration of color plays with form and contrast, as the intersection of the shapes she uses masterfully come together to ...
Fabric
Fort In The Cosmos, 4 : 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 e...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic, Graphite
Ars Poetica 6 : 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, and images rooted in memory may trigger the composition of a poem, collage is a mode of perception that prompts integration of different sorts of accumulated language. Fragments of lived experience are the bricks and mortar the artist uses to build new spaces informed by time’s passage. Early life in the home of an architect and a violinist shaped Jacqueline Dee Parker’s aesthetic. Exposure to the art of architecture encouraged interest in spatial relationships, taught her to read elevations and visualize their 3-D intentions, and, at construction sites, to appreciate the evolution of concept to form. Music played through and where words ended, roused layers of emotional response, and altered the sense of place and time. Together, these ingredients fostered an affinity for abstraction and design. Jacqueline Dee Parker's "Ars Poetica" series is inspired from the poem of the same name from Roman poet...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic