MILAN 21 June 2010 – Ermenegildo Zegna celebrated its 100th anniversary with pomp and pizzazz, holding a double-header fashion show and an impressive exhibition in Milan.
Founded by Ermenegildo Gildo in 1910 after his watchmaker father acquired a couple of looms in an early example of entepreneurialism, Zegna is still a brand in family hands and now boasts revenues of over one billion dollars.
To celebrate its centenary, Zegna mixed heritage with innovation by staging two consecutive shows, held in La Triennale, was well as opening the exhibition titled, "Ermenegildo Zegna 100 Years of Excellence."
Events in Milan opened with a display of the house's main line, which was focused on the fabric this season - seersucker - instead of the usual contrasts of blue, or red, and white, there was lots of black and gray, or of navy and sky-blue.
This season in Milan for Zegna was also an almost tie-free season, ironic as its bread and butter business is the sleek business suit. Instead, most models sported cotton or silk bandanas and racing stocks, and were all the more dashing for that.
Next came the far more fashion-forward Z Zegna collection, whose creative director Alessandro Sartori is currently rated the most sophisticated, new tailor in Italy. For next spring, he sees men in rugged linens and mixes of silk, cotton and even jute.
Sartori cuts blazers and Eisenhower jackets with exposed seams and tapped into a major new look here, semi-transparent tailoring. By using silk chiffon mixes, he makes jackets super-lightweight and user friendly - they keep their shape and keep the wearer cool at the same time.
Featuring a palette of blood orange, cement, faded gray and rust, Sartori dreamed up some great new looks, even if his insistence on cutting most trousers two inches above the ankle seemed a tall ask for most men.
"I wanted the past and present of Zegna, but with the technological tailoring of the future," Sartori said, as he received compliments backstage.
Testifying to the longevity of this family business, the founder's son, Angelo Zegna, a sturdy 88-year-old took a bow at the show's finale.
"For me it's always about roots and winks. The roots are our tailoring, our great suits that give men a distinguished look. And the winks are our experimentation, our determination to try something new. And I think we saw plenty of both today," said CEO Gildo Zegna, as the crowd of 1,500 drifted out of the event.
