“In the past a designer used to sing. Now, he listens.”
With a brief yet effective metaphor, Alberto Caliri summed up the vision he’s bringing to Missoni as the successor of Filippo Grazioli, who parted ways with the Italian house earlier this year.
Caliri is no stranger to the brand: he first joined Missoni in 1998 and had been the right hand of longtime creative director Angela Missoni for 12 years. He took the design reins from her ad interim in May 2021, supervising two convincing runway shows before Grazioli took over the following year and Caliri crossed over to the brand’s home collections.
In a quest to create a unified vision, Caliri is back at the helm of all categories, revealing a new awareness of “my role, which is to take a step back: I am just a mean between the brand and women,” he said during a walk-through of Missoni’s pre-fall 2025 collection.
His first effort in the new post reflected this ego-free inclination by trading the bold graphics and flashy primary colors paraded most recently on the Missoni runway for a more subdued and straightforward attitude. In a concise lineup, Caliri expressed his commitment to bringing back a versatile, daywear focus into the Missoni conversation; to engage with a cross-generational audience rather than prioritizing only a young one, and to exalt the textural and chromatic qualities embedded in the brand.
Knitwear continued to reign supreme, but via relaxed tailoring and outerwear rooted in urban elegance. Enveloping coats, fluid suits and buttonless blazer jackets had a nonchalant vibe even when covered in geometric patterns, while the label’s famed cardigan introduced by founder Ottavio Missoni was turned into a nighttime comfy staple for all ages in a version gleaming with Lurex threads.
Caliri injected dynamism into silhouettes relying not only on the house’s familiar stripes and zigzag motifs but avoiding flatness via 3D effects and sequins, which conferred depth and shine to blouses, long shirtdresses and mini frocks.
A distorted tartan-like pattern and graphic coats offered the least predictable of the elements included in the lineup, hence making the most impact, especially when worn with solid separates.
“I’ve went through the archives all over again, with virgin eyes. When it comes to this brand, we tend to remember just the zigzags, but those stood out in the past 25 years and there are many more motifs [to explore],” said Caliri.
So much so he doesn’t feel the need to anchor collections to seasonal inspirations. “This house overflows with identity. The theme is us,” he concluded.
