Missoni is also Italy's most innovative knitwear label, so much of this collection consisted in reinterpreting Anglo classics in knitted outfits – from the patchwork vests so loved by Dorset farmers to the casual smoking room jackets of English nobility to gentlemanly knitted pin-stripe suits.
Admirably at Missoni there is a charming weakness for the frankly wacky. This show's best were a series of white-soled sneakers, whose uppers were made in knitted black wool with golden highlights. Gold also shone through beautiful little neck details, that added a posh sense of humor to shirt collars. Missoni also was in synch with a big new Italian trend – a muddied print nylon that has been seen on several catwalks, managing to mix rural and urban with one fabric.
No meeting of “masstige” – mass marketing and prestige products - was more successful in 2011 than Missoni's link-up with Target which spawned pop star like mania for the Italian fashion label.
Presented in a beautifully decayed former bell foundry west of Milan's gargantuan central train station, the show was a charming display of how path-breaking can be a combination of a smart creator and a devoted team of craftsmen.