The Missoni Robe Turns The Zigzag Into Morning Wear

A printed chevron on terry cloth would look wrong immediately, because towelling has a loop pile that breaks up any surface pattern. The missoni robe range solves that by weaving the pattern into the cloth, which is why the Giacomo Bathrobe in Cotton Terry with Zigzag Pattern and the Chalk Bathrobe in Cotton Terry with Zigzag Pattern hold their geometry. The Marea Hooded Bathrobe in Cotton Terry with Chevron Pattern and the Long Curt Chevron Cotton Terry Hooded Bathrobe use the chevron variant, which is the more directional of the two motifs. Missoni built its name on knit zigzags, so a terry robe is the most demanding test of the idea.

Most of these have hoods and a few do not, which sounds trivial and changes the garment considerably. The Giacomo Hooded Bathrobe, the Eva Hooded Cotton Terry Bathrobe and the Marea Hooded Bathrobe in black and white are built for hair, and a hood on a bathrobe is the single most useful feature nobody mentions. The newer Aura and Chandler hooded robes bring stripes to the hooded group.

The Giorgio Cotton Terry Bathrobe with Belt is the more classical hotel shape and reads as the most grown-up of the group. It comes in plain charcoal and beige, so it is the one to pick if you want the Missoni label without the zigzag. Missoni Home launched in 1983, and terry cloth turns out to be a natural fit for a brand whose identity was always about texture and colour rather than cut.

The robes make more sense once you know where the zigzag came from. Ottavio and Rosita Missoni opened their knitwear workshop in Gallarate in 1953, and the zigzag arrived in 1962, when they reworked Raschel machines that had been built for knitting shawls. At their 1967 show at the Pitti Palace in Florence, the Lurex dresses went see-through under the lights, which is still my favourite origin story of any knitwear house. So the clothes get their own group here, away from the bathrobes.

The Knit Maxi Halter Dress and the Wave Knitted Maxi Dress are the purest version of the look, and the Strapless Knit Maxi Coverup Dress and the Metallic-Knit Maxi Cover-Up Dress do the same job at the beach. The Draped Knit Wrap Top, the Open-Back Raschel Knit Top and the Zig Zag Wide-Sleeve Raschel Top show the raschel knit most clearly, and I would wear any of them over the Wide Leg Pants or the Wavy Multicolored Straight-Leg Pants. For colder months, the Pleated Turtleneck Cashmere-Blend Sweater, the Peak Lapel Cashmere-Blend Jacket and the Serafino Buttoned Knit Gilet are the quieter end of the group. The Sequined Mesh Bikini and the Knit One-Piece Swimsuit are what I would pack with the robe.

What I would skip: two different Missoni patterns head to toe unless they were made as a set. One zigzag piece with plain denim or black tailoring is plenty.

A bathrobe is a garment you wear more often than almost anything in a wardrobe and think about less, which makes a good one disproportionately worth having. The hooded styles are the practical choice and the Eva and Aura are the most straightforward of those. The Giorgio with a belt is the most elegant and the best for anyone who considers a robe part of getting dressed rather than part of drying off. The Long Curt chevron is the boldest pattern in the group and will dominate a bathroom. The colour work is the reason to buy Missoni here rather than a plain white robe. A woven pattern cannot rub off the way a print can, which is why I trust it on a robe I will wash weekly.