Explore the Fashion and Textile Museum’s popular exhibition, MISSONI ART COLOUR with the Museum’s Head of Exhibitions, Dennis Nothdruft.
With the founding of their eponymous company in 1953 in Gallarate, Italy, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni changed the fashion world’s – and our – perceptions of the knitted garment forever. The combination of Ottavio’s interest in art, design and colour, and Rosita’s innate sensibility to clothing engendered a whole new approach to dressing.
The inaugural Missoni collection, called ‘Milano-Simpathy’, was presented by the couple at the famous La Rinascente store in 1958. A fashion show for the press was staged in 1966; the unconventional use of colour and pattern in knit made it the first of many successful shows over the following decades.
This is a recording of the online event, Missoni: Art Colour, which originally took place live on 5 February 2021 via Microsoft Teams.
About the speaker
Dennis Nothdruft is Head of Exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum. He has led the exhibitions team at the Museum since it was founded by Zandra Rhodes in 2003 and previously spent many years working as a design assistant in Zandra Rhodes studios in both San Diego and London. He has lectured widely on many aspects of fashion and textiles and has authored several books including Zandra Rhodes: 50 Fabulous Years in Fashion, How to Draw Like a Fashion Designer, How to Draw Vintage Fashion and Kaffe Fassett: the Artist’s Eye.