family style; It takes three generations of Missoni women to create a collection, with daughter Margherita acting as muse, fashion scout, and-for the first time-fragrance connoisseur.

Byline: Sarah Brown

This is the dress," Margherita Missoni says with a smirk, gesturing to a lemony-yellow silk confection on the inspiration rack in her mother's design studio. It's a long 1960s party dress with a prominent, gaudy-in-a-good-way rhinestone sash. Margherita bought it for herself, but her mother, Angela-creative director of one of Italy's most iconic fashion brands-snatched it away before she could wear it. That's how it goes when you're a muse-a term Margherita shrugs off ("You would laugh if someone said you're your mother's muse, no?") but can't quite deny.

It's Fashion Week in Milan, and while Angela and the rest of the Missoni clan cast models and tweak samples, Margherita plays her own role in the family business: attending a fitting for the dress she'll wear to the show. It's a graphic, floral chiffon cocktail number that was slated as one of the last looks but is now meant for Margherita. "When they have a dress they want to show off, that's what I do," she says modestly, not quite grasping what it means to have the ability to properly show something off.

Since moving to New York to study acting, 23-year-old Margherita has become a highly visible ambassador for Missoni, but she's not your average heiress. This month she debuts as a nose, having helped to develop ...