When it comes to hotels by fashion brands, they are all things luxury – which can sometimes mean it may exude an air of cool sophistication, lacking the sense of warmth. But the Rosita and Tai Missoni knew that with their hotels, it would be more personal and inspired of their own family home just outside of Milan.
Launched last month, the Missoni Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland is filled with mid 20th century design classic and pop art furniture with doormen kitted out in Missoni-print kilts. But it was the decorating that was a labour of love for Rosita Missoni, who treated the interior decorating like it were her own home.
“I have travelled a lot and I knew very well what I was looking for in a hotel. It’s the little things that make all the difference. So, no carpets! They are the dirtiest thing and it must be wooden floors in the bedrooms,” she told The Scotsman.
“The other thing is adjustable bedside lights. Tai likes to read in bed and if they’re not right, he will unscrew them. Next, we didn’t want bathtubs but a shower with a bench to sit on and wash the hair and feet. They’re not such special things but they just make life easier.”
Meanwhile with so much movement in the fashion world at the moment with fashion houses facing tough financial situations, Rosita has reiterated that the fashion house she started will always resist buy-out attempts from outsiders.
This meant that when Rosita wanted to hand over the fashion side of the business, it could only be to one of her children.
“I didn’t enjoy fashion anymore and it was no longer my passion. My life didn’t correspond with it any more. I was mostly at home or my friends’ homes and didn’t go to parties. One can hire a stylist, but for me it had to be family because it’s a special kind of thing and Angela wanted to try.”
“For maybe two months I enjoyed being free, playing the grandmother. OK, maybe it was four, five weeks, then I started to think about the Home collection, which I did have a passion for. So we relaunched that and became trend-setters again.”
Check out more photos of the Missoni Hotel here.
It’s giving me reason to want to go to Scotland…. or Kuwait, Brazil, Cape Town or Muscat, Oman – Missoni’s next hotel locations. They have ambitious plans to launch a total of 30 hotels by 2017!
