Italian designer Rosita Missoni, co-founder of the eponymous fashion house famous for its vivacious and heavily patterned styles, died today at the age of 93, a company official said.

She founded the company in 1953 with her husband Ottavio Missoni, developing a brand that became popular for its colorful knitwear with geometric shapes and stripes, including the famous fiammato zigzag pattern.

Born into a family of textile craftsmen near the northern Italian city of Varese, Rosita studied modern languages.

During a trip to London in 1948 to improve her English, she met Ottavio, who was part of Italy’s 400m hurdles team at the Olympics in the city.

The Missoni fashion house has gained international recognition and won awards for its distinctive designs, innovative use of fabrics and an approach to fashion that has often been compared to contemporary art.

She also starred in the news with the so-called “battle of the bras” in 1967.

The Missonis were to hold a fashion show at the Pitti Palace in Florence, but before the models took to the catwalk Rosita noticed that their bras were showing through their blouses, ruining the desired color and pattern.

She told the models to remove their bras, but under the catwalk lights, their outfits became completely transparent and the incident caused an uproar.

The following year, the house did not receive an invitation to participate, but Missoni was already appearing on the covers of major fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire.

When the company moved its headquarters to the Italian town of Sumirago, north of Milan, the Missonis moved right next door, with most of their home’s windows overlooking Rosita’s favorite mountain, Monte Rosa.

Rosita remained artistic director for the women’s collections until the late 1990s, when she gave her position to her daughter Angela.

Tragedy struck the family in 2013 when Vittorio Missoni, the couple’s eldest son and the company’s marketing director, was killed in a plane crash off the coast of Venezuela.

Ottavio died in May 2013 aged 92, four months after their son’s plane disappeared, but before the wreckage was found.

The company expanded into home and hotel collections. In 2018 the Italian investment fund FSI invested 70 million euros in the company in exchange for a 41% stake with the aim of strengthening the brand abroad.