Hot spot
Inside fashion label Missoni’s new Edinburgh hotel
WORDS | ROBINA DAM
WHEN THE CATWALK LABEL MISSONI announced that it was tying up with the international hotel group Rezidor to launch a global chain of boutique hotels, the initial reaction was one of surprise from the fashion cognoscenti. So exclusive was the Italian luxury brand – think Bulgari rather than the more widespread Gucci – that there was a perception it could be a case of pearls before swine. Extra chic pearls, of course.
Fans need not have worried. The first Missoni hotel – which chose Edinburgh as its launch pad, thereby sealing its status as a city with grand designs on luxury – has kept its branding intact in the nine months since its opening. More than that, the hotel’s six-floor Grade-II listed building just off the historic Royal Mile (and only a 25-minute drive from the airport) works as a showcase for all the various elements of the brand. You know that you’ve got your brand management sussed when stripes are as much associated with your fashion house as they are with a zebra.
Check into one of the hotel’s 136 rooms and suites (prices start from £150) and you’ll find the own-brand Missoni toiletries in the bathroom (in bright colours naturally), monogrammed towels and slippers, the signature zigzag artwork hanging on the walls. The bed linen – while not overtly branded – is a luxurious own-make design in Egyptian cotton courtesy of Missoni’s home furnishing range.
Is there the danger that it feels like a walk-in 3D advert? Well, the items Missoni doesn’t make itself are sourced from similar brands – Italian wherever possible, as the Acqua di Panna mineral water in the complimentary minibars shows. (Before you get too excited about caning your minibar’s free booze selection, they’re not stupid; it’s stuffed with soft drinks and the odd bottle of Peroni.)
But frankly speaking, if you like your hotels to be neutral then you’ll be cowering behind your designer shades. Clashing colours beckon the confident; this is no place for beige-lovers. Creative director Rosita Missoni has overseen the design herself, bringing in the work of her favourite designers (including Arne Jacobsen and Marcel Wanders) and in a homage to the location, the foyer has Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s classic ladderback chairs.
Robert Bordulack, manager of the restaurant, Cucina (which takes on wholly different looks for breakfast, lunch and dinner – achieved simply by the use of different tableware) sums it up: “Everything that you see in this restaurant is exclusively Missoni: the plates, tablecloth, cutlery and glassware. From the artwork on the walls to the wine glasses, customers get an idea of how creative the house is.” The creativity is extended to the kitchen as well which, for breakfast, offers an extraordinary selection of cakes and pastries (huge apple cakes and mouthfuls of pistachio bakes) by head chef Mattia Cameroni.
It’s difficult not to get swept away, so should you feel the urge to take home some of the beautiful objets d’art, the hotel makes it easy for you: choose what you like and buy it at reception.
Located right in the heart of the Old Town and close to Edinburgh Castle, Hotel Missoni is now stepping out of its uber-tasteful heels to make itself better known to the international traveller. But like all savvy fashion brands, they want to collaborate with like-minded people, especially high-end business travellers. It’s why they’ve linked up with bmi and are planning a 10-year roll out of the hotels throughout the Middle East and South East Asia.
Missoni remains very much a family-run business – their spring advertising campaign reinforces the image, showing three generations of the family photographed by Juergen Teller. Central is Ottavio Missoni, known as Tai, the patriarch of the clan. The company’s competitiveness comes from him: he was a member of the Italian athletic team in the 1948 London Olympics, qualifying for the finals of the 400-metre hurdles.
With that level of drive, no surprises then that the family sets the bar really high. After winning a new generation of fashion fans, the brand tested out other collaborations.
A tie-in with Estée Lauder to launch a fragrance and cosmetics line saw Margherita, Tai’s granddaughter, become the ‘face’ of the fragrances and the unofficial muse of the brand. You could just imagine her hanging out in the ground floor bar – slightly raised from street level so that you can do all the seeing, but without being seen. And where the Missonis go the style brigade follow so bag a bar stool while you can.
Hotel Missoni Edinburgh, 1 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, +44 (0)131 220 6666; www.hotelmissoni.com
THE MISSONI LIFESTYLE
Wear the scent
Missoni Profumi and Missoni Acqua are the two scents made with Estée Lauder. They feature the face of Margherita Missoni, 26, the granddaughter of the founders.
Read the book
Buy the catalogue that accompanied the recent exhibition Workshop Missoni: Daring to be Different (£12.95, published by Gangemi Editore) at the dinky jewel of a museum that is the Estorick Collection in London’s Highbury. No wonder it is one of Margherita’s mother Angela Missoni’s favourite hangouts in London. 39a Canonbury Square, London N1, www.estorickcollection.com
Step on the wedge
Their stripy wedge is one of the hits of the spring/summer collection. Grab it while you can from their latest boutique at 193 Sloane Street, London SW1.
Photography: © Photolibrary
