Missoni has one of the strongest style DNAs in fashion. How do you begin to balance the heritage of the house while staying modern?

I think my parents invented a style: they were breaking rules and did many things - much more than just a zigzag pattern. Of course, it has been a fantastic school. I've learned everything - the invention was done by my parents after all. Maybe that's why I'm never scared to look forward and add print and pattern, design and silhouettes. I never really look back but I do know the archive by heart. I know what Missoni is and I know I can take it forward but I don't fear doing new things.

How do you think the fashion industry has changed from your parents' era?

Everything has changed! Particularly in the last 20 years, because the world has changed and the audience is much wider. I remember doing a fashion show in 1971 at the factory with an audience of 150 people - the entire fashion crowd. Today the fashion crowd consists of I don't know how many people!

What was the inspiration behind your Spring/Summer collection?

The inspiration is very clear this season - it was Spain and flamenco. I wanted the dresses to move almost, to give you the joy of moving and dancing.

Your children, and particularly your daughter Margherita, are involved in the business - is that nice to see your own family develop?

Yes of course. It's nice to know that what you're doing today, they can continue. So you work with more enthusiasm than if you were thinking of selling.

What are your top style tips?

My personal top style tips have changed with my body over the years of course, but some things I never change. I enhance the waist always by wrapping something around it. The clothes I love the most are basically a barrier, ones I can wrap around myself, in other words trying to define the silhouette and what you have!

What is your advice for wearing prints?

Take black as your starting point and add a piece of print little by little. Add colour on top of black or neutrals.

Who do you admire in the fashion industry?

I've grown up in this business, I've seen so much from a young age, and I've seen my mother admiring the past. From Coco Chanel and the invention she did at the time - the knitwear, the jerseys, the cuts - to all the fantastical and extravagant designers of today, such as Galliano or Gaultier, or Alaïa who always stays true to himself.

If you could dress anybody, past or present, in Missoni, who would you choose?

For a house that has spent so many years in fashion, we've dressed almost everybody, from Audrey Hepburn in the '60s to Charlotte Rampling, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. Today, maybe I would like to dress Lady Gaga…

If you could describe Missoni in three words, what would they be?

Three words are really too little for Missoni; Missoni is more than three words. It's of course colour; we know it's action because it's vibrant; we can say it's pattern, it's a style; but it's also very feminine and masculine.

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