What is the inspiration behind your design?

Well inspiration comes from anything. It can come from reading books or observing things around us. Every country has a special charm and this is generally a case when I consider a hotel for a country or region. Our hotel designs are inspired by the local traditions, costumes and the ethnic culture of a country. We started working with stripes, which is now a trademark of Missoni, nearly 60 years ago. As the technology was not available, not much experimenting was done in the early decades, but the Missoni patterns have gone through a huge evolution in the past 15 years. It has changed little by little and we have used mixed patterns, zig-zag designs, floral, checks and pleats. Along the way, we have educated ourselves about the ethnic designs in several countries. Actually, patterns in design have been used for thousands of years. When I visited Valley of Kings in Egypt, I was surprised to see the design patterns, even used today, in the historical structures that are more than 2,000 years old. You had a Missoni Hotel in Edinburgh, now you have one in Kuwait and Oman is next in line, the colors used by you are getting bolder from Edinburgh to Kuwait.Yes, you’re right. The colors used by us are getting bolder and this is because of the warm weather in this region. The use of bold color is also because of the change in the ethnic style of the city and its closeness to sea. In case of Kuwait, the country has everything big and bold and it is growing very fast, so we chose to use bold colors. When we saw the bold nature of this region, we said to ourselves that we can afford to go bold, not only in our colors but in our patterns as well. The designs here are more floral and geometric.

Why didn’t you open a hotel in Dubai?

We had some offers but those invitations were only for existing properties. The Missoni Hotel brand is not for existing hotels because our style does not allow that. If we want a Missoni Hotel, we’d like to see it built from scratch as we are involved at each stage of construction and this necessary to maintain the Missoni character of the property. Our brand is not just about stripes and colors; our hotels aim to offer a comprehensive Missoni experience – the one which a guest would get visiting our home in Italy.

Besides Kuwait, where else do you plan to open Hotel Missoni?

As mentioned, the next Missoni will be in Jebel Sifah, Oman. It will feature 250 rooms and 50 apartments and villas. It is scheduled to open in 2013. In 2014, we will open our Brazil hotel.

What is the significance of using fringes that dominate Missoni in Kuwait?

It comes from a tradition in my family. My grandparents had a huge factory for making shawls and they used lot of fringes. We realized that fringes were also part of oriental culture so we adopted the style in Kuwait. Because the hotel in Kuwait faces the sea there was absolutely no problem using fringes, but if your property is located in the middle of a city and there are several structures around your building, it is a bit difficult to use fringes. In Kuwait, we have used fringes in the corridors and as curtains. Even if you are alone in a room, the movements of these fringes give you a really nice effect of companionship – maybe even a friendly ghost.

If a renowned hotel chain asks you to design their hotel, would you go ahead?

No. Many hotels buy our fabrics because we are in the market through our Missoni home collection. Hotels may have Missoni products, but it will not be a Missoni hotel. To create a designer hotel, we are involved from start to finish.

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