Missoni - Style, Olympics, Love.

Mary should probably be writing this post, because I know nothing about fashion.

I have, however, seen the name "Missoni" on a fair number of chic-looking things. And the name conjures in my mind images of fabulous people sipping espresso on Roman balconies.

I don't know if that's accurate, but if my name conjured that image in even one person, I'd be pretty jazzed.

So I can't help but be impressed to learn that chic, amazing brand actually started with a 16-year-old girl falling in love with an athlete at the 1948 Olympics.

“Our student seats were right near the changing rooms at Wembley Stadium. I saw him. He looked like he was 21 but I later found out that he was 27. He had an extraordinary running style,” Rosita, now 81, recalled in their home as Ottavio, now 91, sat next to her on an iconic Missoni zebra-patterned couch.

Of course, these Olympics were Ottavio's only chance to run, as the two Olympics that would have happened in his "hurdler's prime" had been cancelled due to World War II.

So Rosita married Ottavio, and they started their long careers in high fashion by making... sweatsuits.

“We tried to break the rules ... we lived in very favourable times because it was the beginning of what then came to be called Pret-a-Porter,” Rosita said.

So the Olympics return to London after 64 years this summer. There will be a lot of medals awarded. The question is, who's going to win as big as these two?

Read about Ottavio and Rosita. It'll warm you heart. In a stylish, Italian way:
A love story that sparked a fashion empire