What's a nobile fabric in a world where technologically realized synthetic materials stir modern men's desires with equal potency? Z Zegna, which was wrapped into Zegna Sport three seasons ago, is questioning menswear's long entrenched hierarchies under a new coalition of Murray Scallon (ex-Zegna Sport) and Francesco Muzi (ex-Jil Sander man). This season's conceit was a marine theme, focusing specifically on kitesurfing. So, cloudily transparent, laser-cut, and heat-bonded outerwear revealed the blurred outline of a reinterpreted Zegna logo print on T-shirts beneath. Treated PVC/vinyl coatings gave shorts, trousers, and graphic decorations a storm-slicked sheen. Thin treated nylon parkas had the rustle of a kite canopy and authentically angular color contrasts. And there was an interesting treated crest jacquard of Zegna's house Techmerino in a suit and jacket with a performance lining. Whimsical details included pinstriped pins designed to secure pocket squares to jackets—in case of high winds—and Guernsey T-shirts, elongated at the waist, which should find the voyage from rail to cash-till plain sailing. As an intercontamination of old codes with new imperatives, this collection worked well enough. So, brief fulfilled. But only a few pieces had that soaring rush of instant desirability.
