Rosita Missoni passed away at the age of 93. Her death was confirmed on Thursday by Angela Mariani, the communications consultant for Missoni. Her multicolored designs and vibrant spirit, which marked the '70s, left an indelible mark on the global fashion industry.

Rosita Jelmini was born on Nov. 20, 1931, in the northern Italian region, into a textile-manufacturing family in the town of Golasecca, Lombardy, near Lake Maggiore. Like her grandparents before them, her parents, Diamante, and Angelo Jelmini, worked in the family factory, where Rosita spent much of her youth absorbing techniques and aesthetics, including the colorful zigzags that would become a Missoni signature.

Rosita founded one of the world’s most recognizable brands with her husband Ottavio, called Tai, in 1953, helping to make Milan the capital of Italian high fashion.

At first, the Missoni family sold their sweaters anonymously or under co-labels with known designers, including Emmanuelle Khanh and Christiane Bailly. Five years after the establishment of the brand, Missoni collections could be purchased at La Rinascente, the luxury department store in Milan. Their great opportunity came in 1958 when a Milanese department store ordered hundreds of Missoni-labelled striped dresses. Missoni's first runway shows were held in Milan in 1966, making Milan a destination for fashion addicts from around the world. Among the locations where the label presented its ready-to-wear collections is the historic theater, Teatro Gerolamo, with the assistance of the artist Lucio Fontana. Following that, a presentation at the Pitti Palace in Florence.

Beginning in 1996, Tai and Rosita passed control of their fashion empire to their children Luca, Vittorio, and Angela. The Missoni brand is always considered the emblem of a successful family business, which was managed with passion and enthusiasm for decades.