A plane carrying Vittorio Missoni and his wife Maurizia Castiglioni has gone missing.

The joint head of the Missoni fashion empire was aboard a Britten Norman NB2 twin-engine plane with his spouse, another couple and two crew members when it disappeared off the coast of Venezuela on Friday (04.01.13), according to a company spokesperson.

Maddalena Aspes said: ''The Missoni family has been informed by the Venezuelan consulate that Vittorio Missoni and his wife are missing, but we don't know any more. The authorities will resume their search for the plane in the morning.''

A spokesperson added to WWD: ''We are relying on the work of the Farnesina [Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs] and all the institutions involved, to whom we are grateful for the prompt activities in the research. As more information becomes available, the company will issue further statements.''

The plane took off from Los Rosques with Maiquetia as its destination but went off the radar after just 10 nautical miles.

Vittorio, 58, is the son of Ottavio and Rosita Missoni - the founders of the family-owned fashion house - and co-owns Missoni with his siblings Luca and Angela.

Luca is on his way to Caracas from the US while Angela is at home in Italy's Sumirago, where the family home and company are based.