As Ermenegildo Zegna leans from the house metier of tailoring toward a reset masculine wardrobe hybridized from workwear and sportswear, Z Zegna is meeting it from the opposite direction. This second line, which a while back was itself reset to encompass the phased-out Zegna Sport collection, has in recent seasons (especially those shown in the Pitti pavilion) leaned heavily on the “technical.” There were plenty of fine techy garms here, but there was also a fresh emphasis on tailoring unseen at this label for a while.
A jacket featuring a novel scarf collar plus various others in Alessandro Sartori’s favored slimming but substantial 1.5 breasted shape were the surprise interlopers here. Against them were played some outerwear and knits whose vibe was distinctly un-technical: peacoats, high-collar overcoats, long ribbed cardigans (sometimes styled over jackets, which was mind-melting), and swoopy blanket shawls in an abstract botanical pattern. These were all delivered in a mellow, autumnal russet to charcoal palette.
There were fine workwear-derived pieces too, including some completely dreamy wool overshirts and pared down, zip-up chore jackets. The final voice in the chorus was that technicalwear. Multi-pocketed jackets in the house’s water-proof treated merino—there was even a merino ripstop—had removable skirts and were styled against complementary combat pants and even combat beanies (featuring a zippered pocket) for those wishing to go full SWAT team.
Down jackets came in unusual shapes thanks to wool and nylon padding that was pre-shaped and then quilted around. Again, this was a sustainably ambitious collection, in that 75% of all materials were recycled, and that those down jackets were feather-free. You can see that Sartori is working to cultivate a hierarchy-free clothing ecology in which the various lineages of masculine attire are all fair game to be sequenced, spliced, and rewritten into a fresh template for dress that is greater than the sum of its parts.
