Ottavio Missoni Jr. Tells All at Nordstrom Bellevue

Ottavio Missoni Jr., the grandson of the man who started Italy’s (the world’s?) most iconic knitwear line, visited Seattle and Bellevue for the first time this week, on Wednesday and Thursday November 20 and 21.

Missoni told me he and some of his American team—Gary Warren and Diane Levbarg, who has worked with three generations of the family—met with Nordstrom staffers to get feedback from their side of the sales floor, and then he mixed it up with Bellevue shoppers in an informal trunk show setting with models and plenty of gorgeous looks from the resort and spring 2014 collections.

Missoni told me he and some of his American team—Gary Warren and Diane Levbarg, who has worked with three generations of the family—met with Nordstrom staffers to get feedback from their side of the sales floor, and then he mixed it up with Bellevue shoppers in an informal trunk show setting with models and plenty of gorgeous looks from the resort and spring 2014 collections.

His favorite piece? This soft, cozy take on a moto jacket. He pointed out the lurex accents amid the classic Missoni vibe, and talked about how it could be so easily dressed up or down. “It’s just…,” he said, searching for the right English word perhaps, “cool.”

His favorite piece? This soft, cozy take on a moto jacket. He pointed out the lurex accents amid the classic Missoni vibe, and talked about how it could be so easily dressed up or down. “It’s just…,” he said, searching for the right English word perhaps, “cool.”

We also spent some time going over the prints and patterns that are making a big splash in coming seasons. There’s this graphic bird motif carried throughout that is, Missoni explained, a variation on the house’s trademark zigzag.

We also spent some time going over the prints and patterns that are making a big splash in coming seasons. There’s this graphic bird motif carried throughout that is, Missoni explained, a variation on the house’s trademark zigzag.

Along with additions of jersey, leather, and really cool painted leather, it’s an example of the way the company strives not just to innovate with knits, but with silhouette and overall design. Missoni is maybe the premiere example of a line that stays wonderfully the same even as it changes up the beat from season to season.

Along with additions of jersey, leather, and really cool painted leather, it’s an example of the way the company strives not just to innovate with knits, but with silhouette and overall design. Missoni is maybe the premiere example of a line that stays wonderfully the same even as it changes up the beat from season to season.