NY TIMES.COM February 26, 2014 Circulation: 1,683,855 / Online Audience: 28,978,000 /nearly 29 million unique visitors each month "A New Title for Angela Missoni" Announcement of Angela and Margherita Missoni receiving Honorary Doctorates at the May 8, 2014 Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/a-new-title-for-angelamissoni/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Soon it will be Dr. Angela Missoni to you. During Milan Fashion Week, Ms. Missoni, the creative director of her family’s namesake label, revealed that in May she will be given an honorary doctorate of humane letters by the School of Fashion at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She will attend the school’s 2014 graduation ceremony to receive her award. “I haven’t been to San Francisco in 30 years,” Ms. Missoni said at her showroom on Via Solferino in Milan. “It’s a nice occasion.” Nicer still, she added with a rueful smile, because she and traditional schooling never quite got along. “I had a few years in high school. …” she said, but never completed her degree. The Missoni family has a long history with the Academy of Art University. Ms. Missoni’s parents, Rosita and Ottavio Missoni, were the first to be awarded honorary doctorates by the institution in 1999. Since then, honorary doctorates have been given to a variety of designers, including Azzedine Alaïa, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen and Ralph Rucci, as well as to industry stalwarts including the former New York Times fashion critic, Cathy Horyn, and the International New York Times fashion editor, Suzy Menkes. The elder Ms. Missoni will also travel to San Francisco for the event; Mr. Missoni died in 2013. In keeping with the family theme, Ms. Missoni’s daughter Margherita, who works on Missoni accessories and beachwear and serves as its brand ambassador, will receive an honorary doctorate alongside her mother. “Even in this, I can’t get first!” Angela joked.