Every issue, GRAZIA USA highlights Game Changers, who inspire, educate, and celebrate individuality, beauty, and style. Meet global traveler and style icon, Margherita Missoni, who’s creating her own work in the fashion industry.
rowing up, it was quite difficult to find who I was as a person. I’m sure it is a bit difficult for everyone, but it was especially difficult for me because it was a very tight-knit family and the company and the family were kind of blended into each other—and still are. So, I was seeking my own separate space and life. I studied philosophy and then I left university to study acting. I was in New York at the time, for five years, and I thought acting was what I wanted to do. But looking back, I realize it was a moment when I really wanted to swell in myself and my mind.
Then, I decided to go back to Italy. I realized that my passion was actually fashion and I was ready to admit it. So, I went back to the company and I was assisting my mother. She handed responsibilities to me one after the other, and at the end, I was managing all the accessories and licenses of the women’s collection. I started with beachwear, shoes, bags, the eyewear collection—all of that. After a few years, I realized it was a strain on our relationship to be working together so closely and I was also a mother by then. I had just had my second baby and I thought I wanted to work on my terms and my time, so I decided to leave and try out the entrepreneurial life.
I started working on multiple collaborations of different sorts: I did Pottery Barn Kids, Away luggage, swimsuits with Mott 50. I did Splendid twice: winter and summer. I was only developing the creative side of it and working on the communications while they were producing and distributing, which really allowed me the lightness and freedom that I wanted at that time.
I’ve been working with the Luxury Collection for quite some time. When people ask what my passion and hobbies are, what my source of inspiration is, travel is always the first thing that comes to mind. When people ask “What did you miss the most during COVID?” “Traveling” is always the answer. Traveling has always been an important part of my life. They used to call me “the Baby with the Luggage” because I would always carry my bag around.
It’s about taking a trip, living the experience, and then getting inspired and creating an item that references the place. This is my favorite product that I ever did for the Luxury Collection: It’s a scarf, sarong, shawl—whatever you want to call it, it’s definitely the item I can’t go without whenever I pack. So, it’s exciting to finally see it coming out.
I also have a new capsule collection I designed for one of the brands of the Max Mara Group, Max & Co. It’s a very cute project. I’m very familiar with Italian companies, so it was a great fit. It’s a take on starting from “What’s Max & Co.?” and “What are their best sellers?” but also taking it back to what I used to wear from Max & Co. in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
The fashion industry has been such a wealthy business for such a long time that we did not feel the urge to change. But then COVID hit. Priorities have changed and points of view have changed. They need to change, and they finally are changing.
Some huge companies that have been thriving and are still thriving will have the same system. It works for them, so why would they change? But all of the other ones that have tried to compete without the same means, they understand that they need to compete using their own strengths and in a sustainable way. You need to do a show? No, if you don’t have the money to do the show, you won’t do the show; you will find another way. It’s not mandatory that you have a press office. It’s not mandatory that you have anything.
