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Rosita Missoni obituary

Co-founder of the eponymous Italian fashion label celebrated for its colourful textiles and zigzag knitwear

This was part of a postwar Italian movement that put together centuries-old knowledge of materials with sophisticated machinery developments (originally funded by American Marshall Plan money to revive European industry) and a new preference for informal, ready-to-wear clothes. Photograph: Olycom Spa/ShutterstockAnd then, as more people flew internationally and observed the ways other cultures dressed, designers such as Kenzo Takada and Bill Gibb experimented with outfits assembled from knitted, printed, embroidered and woven textiles, with geometric and floral patterns, all worn at once. They commissioned from the architect Enrico Buzzi a factory and nearby home with a view of the Alps in Sumirago, under 10km from Golasecca, among gardens that grew produce and plumped hens to be cooked for their children, Luca, Vittorio and Angela.

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