In 1953 Ottavio and Rosita Missoni started a small knitwear shop in Italy. They presented their first collection in Milan in 1958. A line known for vibrant colors, geometric overload, and mixing a multitude of textures became Missoni. Since then the brand has been diversified into a variety of luxury goods aside from swanky women’s wear, including Missoni Sport, The Missoni Home collection, perfumes and even a lifestyle hotel chain called Hotel Missoni. Missoni has made a prominent name for themselves in the fashion world. Even those not privvied to high fashion know that exuberant, zig zag print.
Flash forward to late summer of 2011. Missoni for Target debuted on September 13th. Target’s website was down for hours. Stores had people lined up when the doors opened to get their hands on the luscious sweater dresses, cardigans, tights, sleep masks, hair accessories, stationary, and housewares. People were buying items in bulk to flip on eBay. By the time I got there after work the racks were completely picked over.
While there have been a boat load of exclusive designers create specialty lines to grace the everyday racks of Target, none have ever caused a ruckus like Missoni. And these are big names, Isaac Mizrahi, Zac Posen, and Alexander McQueen are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. This speaks volumes about Missoni as a brand. Everyday shoppers saw the opportunity to get a slice of that patterned pie without breaking the bank, and they took it. ALL of it. Except that last infinity scarf… which I got.