The newly opened Olivier Saillard–curated exhibition, A Short Novel on Men’s Fashion, here in Florence tracks the development of menswear in tandem with the history of Pitti L’Uomo’s 30-year history. Five of the looks in it are fittingly by Ermenegildo Zegna (including one of the founder’s own suits), and two were made under the stewardship of Alessandro Sartori. This label turned a fresh page of its own today by presenting a Z Zegna reimagined via a new team and a new logo, but, most importantly, of a new philosophy.
Sartori said it was partially a philosophy of alignment, “to apply a tailoring approach—how the silhouette is made, the fabrics, the construction of the shoulder—to every aspect of Z Zegna, where there was before a split between sportswear and tailoring.” Arguably more significantly for those not au fait with the brand’s semantics was a newly overt emphasis on sustainability. If any fashion giant can reinvent itself as a sustainable operation, it is Ermenegildo Zegna. Famously vertically operated, it administers its own chain of supply, manufacture, and delivery from its farms and mills via its factories to its retail chain. Sustainability, however, is no quick-change; as Sartori said: “It takes time because you have to look at absolutely every action and every process. But we are looking, and changing.”
After hearing Sartori’s description of the alterations applied to Z Zegna, the fear was that this excellent source of geeky yet sleek, functional luxury sportswear would have been fully taken over by tailoring; in construction and fabric that was, as promised, the case. Thankfully, however, the garments to which the philosophy applied offered plenty for punters disinterested in wearing a suit. The theme of the collection centered around desertification. These were indeed dashing ensembles for whatever aridly apocalyptic futures-cape awaits unless global warming is reversed.
Pants and jackets mixed crunchily treated flax and panels of recycled synthetics. One parka shifted with dune-like shimmers of color warp, thanks to a moiré process novelly applied to (recycled, water-bottle sourced) nylon. There was a clever collision of traditional tailoring checks with voguish-ly “technical” mesh materials. Of course there were tailored jackets, some in bouclé, some in the check-on-check, and others in ultra-light treated cottons. These featured insulating pocket-flap details and shirting-light shoulder construction. Worn under a red recycled synthetic and ripstop panel parka, a bomber-jacket tracksuit in a finely red-checked blue weave of the company’s machine-washable Techno Merino fabric looked like a trusty companion for future service as both dress codes and global weather conditions change. This latest twist in the Zegna narrative suggests its determination to change with the prevailing winds of social awareness while retaining its commitment to kick-ass menswear.
