Margherita Missoni, the granddaughter of Missoni co-founders Ottavio and Rosita Missoni, has had a long career in the fashion industry — but it hasn’t followed the expected path.
“When I was pregnant with my second son, I decided to leave my role at Missoni and start my own childrenswear collection,” she said. “I wanted to have more control over my own schedule, and to have more time to focus on my growing family and their needs.”
For years, she “worked” for the family business — first as an ambassador, then as a model and muse, before joining the design team, working on accessories, swimwear and Missoni Girls. Though her mother, Angela, was creative director at the time — she just celebrated her 20-year anniversary at the helm at her Milan Fashion Week show on Saturday – Margherita stepped away from the company in early 2015 and has been building her own brand ever since.
Today, she spends her workdays overseeing her children’s line, Margherita Kids, as well as contributing to a variety of collaborations and projects that seem to fall in her lap like clockwork. In March, her capsule collection with Splendid — which reflects her “spontaneous and playful” style — will be released. The home collection she designed for Pottery Barn Kids has been in stores since January.
Recently, she shared the details of one of her typical days, which included dedicating hours to Margherita Kids, tucking her little boys into bed and putting the final touches on her family’s next home in Verase, Italy.
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7:30 a.m.: I wake up, usually with a little help from my kids. I quickly change into workout clothes and attempt to get one of my boys ready while my husband takes care of the other.
8:00 a.m.: Breakfast with the family. I like to start the day with a tall glass of lukewarm water mixed with lemon juice, a tiny bit of baking soda and ginger. Then, 15 minutes after I’ve had my morning beverage, I eat either an egg white omelet with jalapeño and ginger or scrambled eggs, some type of healthy bread and one tall pressed juice — the flavor varies. I finish off my hearty breakfast with a matcha shot.
8:30 a.m.: My husband takes the boys to school, and I work out for about an hour. I generally do interval training twice a week and yoga once a week. After the workout, I need about 30 minutes to get ready for the day. Some of my favorite beauty products, which I use routinely, are David Mallett hair products, Bioderma’s solution micellaire to clean my skin, La Mer’s toner and serum, and Regenerate toothpaste. Before getting dressed — and countless other times during the day — I check my email and Instagram. I often throw on an easy, flowy dress, or I stick to denim and a great sweater. Comfort is key.
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10:00 a.m.: Twice a week, my creative consultant, who’s my right hand, comes in, and we work on Margherita Kids, my childrenswear collection, as well as whatever other projects are happening at the time. I’ve recently done a collaboration with The Luxury Collection, designing an exclusive children’s backpack, and even launched a collection for Pottery Barn Kids. Soon, Splendid will be launching the Splendid x Margherita capsule, too. I love to constantly challenge myself creatively, so I’m always working on a variety of projects. My assistant arrives around 10 a.m. daily. Today, the first order of business is answering interview questions — generally related to the current projects I’m working on — for a variety of international media. My daisy collection and I were just featured on Everything But the House (EBTH). On other days, we may be busy booking upcoming trips, usually for work. I travel four or five days each month, often to two or three different locations — and that’s not counting the little holidays we take as a family.
11:00 a.m.: Once again, I get busy finalizing details for our new house, which is still in Varese, where I’ve lived for much of my life. My husband and I have been building the home from scratch for the past three years, so we’re excited to finally be moving in this autumn.
12:00 p.m.: I have lunch with my husband at home, and sometimes my coworkers join, too. We’re often eating carbs, but healthy ones, like black rice salad or a spicy buckwheat pasta dish made with chopped tomatoes, olives and basil.
1:00 p.m. After lunch, I get back to work on my Margherita Kids line. For the next couple of hours, I’m busy doing a variety of tasks: hopping on conference calls, talking to my accountants, answering emails, writing cards and personal notes, creating mood boards and lookbooks, and approving photos or clothing samples. I’m incredibly hands-on when it comes to the line.
3:00 p.m.: I head out to go and pick up the boys from school. Afterward, I like to spend some quality time with them, so I either take them to the playground, to visit with their grandma, to get some ice cream or to the local farm, which we tend to do often — actually, too often. We make an afternoon of it all. Today’s after-school treat is caramelized orange peels.
6:00 p.m.: It’s bath time for the boys!
7:00 p.m.: Now, it’s dinnertime. In the fall and winter, I like to make soup and meals with lots of protein. In the warmer months, I like to keep it light with salads and fresh fish or meat. After dinner, we watch a little bit of TV, mainly “Barbapapa,” which the boys love.
8:15 a.m.: We’re off to tuck the boys into bed. Normally, my husband and I alternate between which of the boys we put down.
8:45 p.m.: My husband and I watch a movie or TV show — right now, I’m a fan of “Game of Thrones,” but I recently loved “The Get Down” — or we just read in bed until about 11. Some of my favorite authors are Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Milan Kundera and Zadie Smith.
