M Missoni Eyewear: Zigzags, Color, and a Family Legacy

Few fashion houses are as instantly identifiable by pattern alone as Missoni. The zigzag knit that's defined the brand for decades has a way of showing up everywhere — including, eventually, on the temples of a pair of sunglasses. M Missoni, the brand's younger, more playful line, carries that same unmistakable visual language into eyewear.

Love at the Olympics, and a knitwear workshop: 1953

The Missoni story starts with a chance meeting. Ottavio "Tai" Missoni, a former Italian athlete who competed in hurdles, met Rosita Jelmini in 1948 at the London Olympics, where he was competing and she was in the crowd. Rosita came from a family involved in fabric production near Varese, Italy, and the two married and, in 1953, opened a small knitwear workshop in Gallarate, Italy — the modest beginning of what would become one of Italy's most recognizable fashion houses.

The couple presented their first collection, called "Milano-Sympathy," in Milan in 1958. Fashion editor Anna Piaggi, then at Arianna magazine, was among the first to take serious notice of the Missonis' work, helping introduce the brand to a wider audience through consistent magazine coverage.

Finding the pattern that defined a house

In its earliest years, Missoni production focused on simple striped fabrics in varying colors and widths. The now-iconic zigzag pattern that would come to define the brand emerged gradually over the following years, eventually becoming Missoni's most recognizable signature. A pivotal creative partnership came in 1965, when Rosita met French stylist Emmanuelle Khan in New York; their collaboration led to a new collection shown the following year, and the Missoni name was officially registered in 1966.

The brand's real breakthrough moment — equal parts fashion triumph and outright scandal — came in April 1967, when Missoni was invited to show at the Pitti Palace in Florence. Rosita instructed the models to remove their bras before the show, reportedly because the undergarments clashed with the dresses; under the runway lighting, the thin fabric became transparent, causing a sensation that made headlines worldwide. Missoni wasn't invited back to Pitti the following year, but the controversy introduced the brand to a global audience, with international press comparing the young Italian label to Chanel.

Growing into a family empire

Missoni continued expanding through the following decades, championed in the U.S. by legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who helped the brand open its first American boutique inside Bloomingdale's. The company built a new factory in Sumirago in 1969 and, from 1997 onward, was run by the Missoni children: Angela as creative director, Vittorio overseeing sales, and Luca leading engineering. The broader Missoni universe grew to include several distinct lines — Missoni Sport (launched 1985), Missoni Kids, Missoni Home (rooted in furnishing fabrics developed in 1981), and, in 1998, M Missoni.

M Missoni: a younger, more playful line

M Missoni was introduced in 1998 as a more accessible, youth-oriented line within the Missoni family of brands, initially manufactured and distributed by Marzotto before being brought fully in-house by Missoni in April 2018. Margherita Maccapani Missoni, granddaughter of founders Ottavio and Rosita, served as the line's creative director from 1998 until 2021, shaping M Missoni's identity as a distinctly playful, colorful counterpart to the more formal main Missoni collection.

Eyewear enters the picture

Missoni eyewear — spanning both the main Missoni line and M Missoni — has been produced through a partnership with Safilo, one of Italy's major eyewear manufacturers. In 2018, Missoni and Safilo signed a five-year global licensing agreement covering the design and distribution of prescription eyewear and sunglasses for both labels, translating the house's signature textile patterns into a wearable accessory format.

A design identity built on pattern and color

Missoni and M Missoni eyewear collections lean directly into the brand's textile heritage. Frames are often constructed from multicolored Italian acetate, designed to evoke the same zigzag knitwear patterns the house is known for, with temples featuring geometric shapes, decorative bas-reliefs, and the brand's signature interweaving of multiple colors within a single piece. Cat-eye silhouettes make up a significant share of the collection, prized for their youthful, slightly lifted shape, alongside round metal frames and other classic silhouettes reworked with Missoni's unmistakable color sensibility.

Where the brand stands today

M Missoni eyewear continues to reflect the same spirit that's defined the Missoni family business since 1953: bold color, distinctive pattern, and a design language that's genuinely hard to mistake for any other brand. Following Rosita Missoni's passing in January 2025 at age 93, the house continues under family and creative leadership that remains closely tied to the original founders' vision.