“I’ll start again, with myself. That is, from Margarita. It’s always Missoni, but lastly and above all Maccapani.” For those who were born without a designated destiny, it is easy to end the argument with the words “sorry, but what was the problem?” But for this young woman it was not like that. “The eternal conflict: why I was born Maccapani and then found myself Missoni. And I cannot hide that it was convenient and useful. But I always had a feeling of guilt towards my father and beyond. At times I also felt that I was not me, that is, I was only part of it.” Here she is, beautiful as the sun. Warm voice.
Although she looks like an eternal twenty-year-old girl, Margherita Maccapani Missoni he turned 40 last February; recently separated, she is the mother of Augusto Amos, 9, and Otto Hermann, 8. Eldest daughter of Angela Missoni and Marco Maccapani. she has been breathing colors, fabrics and fashion since she was a little girl. First of all, the grandchildren of the clan. And then one summer, Gilles Bensimon, a famous French photographer and friend of my mother, wrote: “Angela, I will come to visit you in Sardinia, let them send me some clothes, and I will shoot with Margarita. ” These photos took up nine pages. El France and a new (and perfect) Missoni review was born.
Many were willing to bet that she would one day become the future Missoni, after her grandparents Ottavio and Rosita, her mother Angela and her uncles Luca and Vittorio.
“Of course, of course. And I certainly made plans for the life that I had in the company. And then there was an internal upheaval. Now, although we are still shareholders, we have ceased operations, and for me it was a shock. I did not choose this and I did not was ready. And at the same time I broke up, so it was a revolution in everything I imagined in my life and for my life. It was hard to let go and change. Very difficult. Varese and my roots. Because that’s what it’s about. was discussed. I would never have thought about it. I once thought that if I wanted to go live in Australia, I couldn’t. In short, I didn’t feel free. And I would never have the courage. Now I even grateful to those who took everything from me. And this happened in my personal life too. Because around the same time, my husband decided to leave me. I never thought that this would happen: he was my brother’s friend, and my grandmother my father’s side always insisted that we were made for each other.When I was living in New York, he called me and said that he was the one. So when I returned to live in Italy, he set me up on a blind date and we got married. I’m a bulky and difficult woman, I admit it. To keep things going well, I destroyed myself to balance the relationship. But that’s not true. He left me and I rediscovered myself. Now I’m happy. I suffered, I struggled, I got help, but here I am.”
It’s very difficult to give up, it’s true. But two years later he even returned to the game with Makkapani, tongue in completely new clothes.
“Once I gave up the idea and control, everything went as usual. First the story of the film, and then the brand promoted by colleagues with whom I have worked all my life. A circle that magically closed: it was my dream, I studied to be an actress, but…”
But at the age of 19 she was already a representative of the world of family business: parties and opening days, red carpets and fashion shows. Never in the same place for a week. She was one of the It-girls, the coolest girls (from Tatiana Santo Domingo to Eugenie Niarchos and Bianca Brandolini) of the last decade. Who was Margarita yesterday and who is she today?
“In fact, they are just images, but inside they are still me. Then it was an image that was always joyful, always sunny. Today he is, of course, more provocative, wants to provoke reasoning, thought, a little rebellious. A B-side born from suffering.”
But are you talking about clothes or about her?
“Both of them. And in one case or another, this Margarita surprises everyone.”
What do mom and grandma say?
“They’re happy for me.”
Will his grandfather Ottavio be there too?
“I think he would be happy and proud. He put freedom first. He never compromised on this issue. And so I think he would approve, because that’s a little bit of what he would want for me, because I was freed from the burden of expectations, of programs that were decided anyway, or at least that life decided for me. . Every now and then when I’m driving down the highway I feel my grandfather pressing the tip of my nose, he always did this. I miss him so much. He always seemed not to listen, maybe he was reading in the corner of the room, but he raised his head and always said the right things.”
Who knows who he met with his grandfather…
“One day I answered the phone for him. I picked up the phone: “Hello, I’m Federico Fellini, I’m calling from the Hotel Roma in Rimini.” Then I always laughed when my grandfather called Enzo Biaggi, because the secretary shouted: “Director, your best friend is here.” Incredible things for a little girl: at the age of eight, Gianni Mura tried to teach me how to make anagrams… and Maurizio Nichetti was surprised that I did not know who Pirandello was, at the age of 12, I would say twelve, but I started reading “Alone, no one, one hundred thousand…”
Inspiring!
“Very. And then my grandparents were sports fans, we read there every day Gazette dello Sportand every Wednesday they invited me to lunch at Milanello. So to those who annoyed me by asking if I wanted to be a stylist when I grew up, I would say, “No, I’ll be a sports journalist.”
Instead, at 15, she said, “I want to be an actress.”
“Already. Tired of Montessori summer camps, I asked to take acting classes in Los Angeles. I came to visit a family friend, Quincy Jones…”
Quincy Jones?
“Yes Yes. It was always exciting to be with him. You’ve met Beyoncé and Jay-Z before… but the first time I was 15, my mother asked another young friend of hers to look after me and take me out sometimes. He gave me rides in his beat-up cars and introduced me to young actors and actresses. It was Vincent Gallo, and the seventeen-year-old girl I often chatted with was named Natalie Portman.”
Do you think things changed in 2013 when your uncle Vittorio died in a plane crash in January and your grandfather Ottavio died in May?
“We’ve all grown up… The dynamics have changed. There were no longer three of us, but many. I remember the discussions. And it was already decided to sell earlier. No, it didn’t all start in that difficult year. Then they already decided to sell part of it.”
First night without Missoni?
“My only thought was about my grandmother, about sadness, about disappointment. A large part of my life has been dedicated to making a good impression on my grandmother… The desire to take Missoni forward was all about her, in the name of everything she gave and did for us. This was what I thought about most. But then the images of the man who greeted me and said to me came back to me: “Do you know what your only value in this company is? The last name you bear is Makkapani, now go. Terrible, isn’t it?”
Did the family survive all this?
“Absolutely yes, we see each other, we talk, we have chats, from this point of view nothing has changed.”
He might as well never work again.
“I have always lived on what I earn since I was 18, then I was lucky because I had many contracts specifically for my role at Missoni, I don’t want to be a genius.”
Is it girls season?
“I loved being one of them: growing up in Montonat, I always dreamed of being where things were happening, like New York. I dreamed and begged my mother to take me with her. When I turned 18, I went: parties and trips, trips and parties. Then it happened that my mother’s clothes fit me perfectly, and I became a representative of the company. Then there were Tatiana and the others. They are still here: from time to time we have unexpected meetings. Usually they are organized by Evgenia (Niarchos): she calls us at the last minute, evenings, but also concerts, and we come. We became mothers and workers, which has some effect when you think about how crazy we were.”
You’re a fool?
“You do things when you’re twenty, but I’ve always had a strong sense of responsibility. But now it’s much easier for me than when I was young. I have always missed living in the present moment. When I was a little girl, this was my angst: I thought that every action would have irresistible consequences for my future. I thought that if I failed to do something, I would forever remain a failure. I went to a Montessori school where they teach that everything depends on you and what you choose. And since I was a very responsible child and wanted to please, I always tried. My mother allowed me to choose and do, but I needed someone to help me make a decision. Between the ages of 15 and 18, I also suffered from depression due to the mentality of “if I don’t do it and it doesn’t work out, it’s my fault.” I was my own opponent.”
A new adventure that you are starting from scratch, are you afraid that you will not succeed?
“I’ve been working on it. I did the analysis. About “letting go” and taking risks with the awareness of lack of certainty. So, having been a daughter, a granddaughter, a girlfriend, a witness, a mother and a wife, I overcame the need to always identify myself with a figure and appropriated for myself Margarita, who is a mother, a friend, an “entrepreneur”. and also someone who wants to go dancing. But I don’t have to be one of these people, I am everything. I’m Margarita.”