From The Straits Times    |

Angela Missoni hopes brother is alive main.jpgAngela Missoni still has “hope” that her brother will be found alive, after the plane he was travelling in went missing.

Italian fashion designer Vittorio Missoni, his wife Maurizia Castiglioni, two friends and two crew members are missing after their plane went off the radar off the coast of Venezuela. The group were on a short flight from the Los Roques resort to Caracas, which is known for being dangerous.

Creative director of the Missoni label Angela was with her and Vittorio’s parents Rosita and Ottavio on holiday in Oman when she received the news.

“Our hope is that he is still alive,” she told Italian newspaper La Repubblica. “We want to hope, because for us it is important.”

Angela immediately told her mother what had happened and made arrangements for a search to start. Her father was informed about the situation a little later.

“We decided to let him rest, he was very tired,” Angela explained. “When, at 5.30 in the morning he saw us all standing and he looked at our faces and said, ‘What happened? I am 92, but I’m not stupid.’ And so we told him the truth.

“I think in a moment difficult like this one, any family would desire what we would like: respect for our privacy.”

So far the search has taken in land, sea and air but there has been no trace of the plane found.

Vittorio is the chief administrator of his family’s luxury fashion brand. He had been on a fishing holiday with his wife and friends to welcome in the New Year.

The label is best known for its knitwear, which often boasts zigzag patterns. – COVER MEDIA