Vittorio Missoni (1954 – January 4, 2013; confirmed June 27, 2013) was an Italian

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Missoni Missoni is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Varese, and known for its colorful knitwear designs. The company was founded by Ottavio ("Tai") and Rosita Missoni in 1953. History Early beginnings The business was founded in 1953, when O ...

, the

fashion house Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

founded by his parents in 1953. Missoni is credited with expanding Missoni into a global

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

after his parents handed control to him and his two siblings, Angela and Luca, in 1996. Missoni was born in

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways to Va ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy, in 1954, to Ottavio and Rosita Missoni. His parents had opened a small

knitwear Knitted fabric is a textile that results from knitting, the process of inter-looping of yarns or inter-meshing of loops. Its properties are distinct from woven fabric in that it is more flexible and can be more readily constructed into smaller pi ...

store in Gallarate in 1953 shortly before he was born. They released their first articles of clothing using the Missoni label in 1958. The company, which is known for a distinctive

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

knitwear pattern, became successful in Italy during the 1960s. The three Missoni children – Vittorio, Angela and Luca – became involved with the day-to-day operations of the family business. In 1996, Ottavio and Rosita handed control of the Missoni fashion house to their children. Angela and Luca took responsibility for the creative direction of the Missoni line, while Vittorio Missoni handled the business aspects of the company. Vittorio Missoni initially led the marketing and manufacturing departments of Missoni. However, he was widely credited with expanding the fashion house into a full global brand after becoming Missoni's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in Europe and the United States. Under Vittorio Missoni, the company's trademark pattern and name expanded into household and cosmetic products, including perfume and towels. A Missoni Hotel, the first of several locations, debuted in 2009 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. In 2011, Missoni partnered with the American

retail chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

Target Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

, to release a line of limited-edition, lower priced Missoni products, which proved so popular with shoppers that Target's web site crashed due to demand. The plane in which Missoni and his wife were flying, a forty-four-year-old

Britten-Norman Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

on January 4, 2013, after taking off from

Los Roques Airport Los Roques Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Los Roques) – a small domestic airport on the El Gran Roque island in the Los Roques archipelago off the coast of mainland Venezuela, some north of Caracas. The runway was repaved in 2007. Air traffic is ...

in the

Los Roques archipelago The Los Roques Archipelago (Spanish: ''Archipiélago de Los Roques'') is a federal dependency of Venezuela consisting of approximately 350 islands, cays, and islets in a total area of 40.61 square kilometers. The archipelago is located dire ...

, where they had been vacationing, en route to

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Venezuela. Missoni was 58 years old at the time of the plane's disappearance. His wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, and their friends, Guido Foresti and Elda Scalvenzi, as well as two crew members were also on board the plane. The search for the missing aircraft took more than six months. His father, Ottavio, died in May 2013, before the plane was located. On June 27, 2013, it was confirmed that Missoni's plane was found in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, north of the

. The aircraft was located by the crew of C&C Technologies' research vessel ''Sea Scout'', an

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

ship, on the fifth day of their search for Missoni.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missoni, Vittorio 1954 births 2013 deaths Italian chief executives Italian hoteliers People from Gallarate Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2013

See also

References