Missoni was noticed, and then enthusiastically promoted, by fashion journalist Anna Piaggi. Re-inventing the fashion show This interest led to the duo hosting Missoni fashion shows. In Italy ...

Over time, their work began to gain global attention for blending art and fashion into one. A defining moment for Missoni came in 1967 at a show in Florence. Just before the models hit the runway ...

Rosita Jelmini Missoni and her husband Ottavio (Tai) were invited to show their clothes to the general fashion public for the first time in 1967. The backdrop was the Pitti Palace in Florence ...

Rosita Jelmini Missoni and her husband Ottavio (Tai) were invited to show their clothes to the general fashion public for the first time in 1967. The backdrop was the Pitti Palace in Florence ...

Missoni had been invited to show at the Pitti Palace in Florence ... but Missoni was quickly on the covers of big-name fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire.

ROME — Rosita Missoni, the matriarch of the iconic Italian fashion house that made colorful zigzag-patterned knitwear high fashion and helped launch Italian ready-to-wear, has died. She was 93.