MY STYLIST SUIT #02
Today, why I am in love with Zegna.
Let’s think of love in this case as a platonic infatuation, since, much as I might love Zegna, there’s little possibility of me dressing head to toe in the brand, because of the moneys for one, and because I wouldn’t want to, mix and match is more my thing.
Nevertheless, I do love Zegna. More specifically, I adore Zegna under the reins of Alessandro Sartori, and you might think, maybe who you love is Sartori darling, but no, I didn’t love Sartori at Berluti. It was fine and had all his signature elements; his eye for colour, his relaxed elegance, the older models… but his work at Zegna, especially from 2021 onwards, is fresh, desirable and timeless. Sartori started at the house right after his graduation, then left but came back later to take care of Z Zegna, which was at the time of his tenure far cooler than the main line. He left again for a few years for Berluti while Stefano Pilati did his thing and then came back to the house to fully take the creative direction and bring the house into modern times with his massive talent for colour, silhouette and casual elegance. Maybe it’s just that he is right for Zegna.
There are so many precious aspects to his designs, but if I had to choose just one,
it would be his instinct for colour palleting and combination, he says of himself in his Instagram bio: “I am a colorist but I always wear black”. It’s kind of sad with such an eye, but Italian fashion designers are obsessed with this uniform, so let him have it.
I remember how breezy and light his first collections felt, how the mixture of his unique sense of colour and the extreme quality of Zegna’s fabrics felt truly luxurious. The fabrics are the best of the best in terms of quality, the company is one of the top fabric manufacturers in the world. Zegna was a family business originally founded as an artisanal wool mill which sourced only the highest quality fibres. Today after the acquisition of Bonotto, a high-end textile manufacturer, they have full control over their fabrics’ developing process, from weaving to the final product, which has expanded Sartori’s investigation into innovative and experimental materials. The brand recently bought a Merino farm in Australia, in keeping with the company’s compromise to be fully traceable by 2024. Zegna’s leathers feel uber soft and pliable, light and protective at the same time, the wool, cotton and linen have a slight texture, as if falling on the body but also kind of levitating over it. I know I sound crazy, but trust me, these pieces are that special.
The other thing that I love, is that Sartori has been casting both men and women plus older male models for his shows without making a fuss, which makes total sense because those are his customers. To me, clothes have no gender, it is we who embed that quality straight from our preconceptions into the garments. Some other brands plaster how genderless or age-inclusive they are all over their PR materials, not so with Zegna, who started doing this already in 2017. His silhouettes are age and gender inclusive because they’re flattering on every body shape (admittedly, the carrot trousers may not be so good if you are under 1’80m and the shoes can be an on-and-off thing), everything seems to be designed with comfort and effortless elegance in mind. Or in his own words:
“I’m looking for lightness, freedom and a sense of pleasure”
I love that that is precisely how these clothes feel. The silhouettes flow, the colour palette is brilliant, I’ll never get tired of saying it (it’s particularly great when looking for art direction references), and the aesthetic seems to favour comfort for power dressing, or maybe, this is power dressing for those already confident and powerful. These pieces are not armours, they’re skin. I love the precision and delicate manner in which the utilitarian details are done; it’s commando gear for the privileged. Sartori has also visibly reduced the ubiquity of prints since ss21, so when these appear they are a refreshing touch.
Also worth noting is the styling work of Julie Ragolia, who does a great job creating colour palettes that pop, styling garments with exquisite taste and making the garment silhouette shine through layering, clever application of bold pieces here and there, and mixing tonal palettes or contrasting.
As you can imagine, this is not a post where I’m going to share some of Zegna’s outfits for less than 350€ (I wish), let’s call this inspiration. So just for the sake of visualisation techniques that might bring me closer to one of their gorgeous pieces, let’s imagine: If I were to dress head to toe in Zegna disregarding what I previously said, these would be some of my options, feel free to write them in your Future Gifts for Patty’s list:
See how at ease I walk through Zegna’s factory? Exactly, a match made in heaven.
That’s all from me this Saturday, my dears. As always, love and appreciation are the best things a girl can get. I read you in the comments!
Happy weekend,
Patty
ps: your collage at the end put a smile on my face
I was never interested in Zegna, BUT you've made me want to go and have a look at it. I also never heard of Alessandro Sartori, but your reflection on how he was not that great at Berluti, but is excelling at Zegna is very interesting. In his defense, I'd say Berluti is not an easy brand to take on because each time a designer decided to add a twist to the brand, they exited quickly. I think it is the type of brand that should just have a creative team and no designer because, I believe, designers at storied brands are there to bring freshness while maintaining the ethos of the brand. I am saying this eventhough I feel we're entering an era where designers at the helm of big fashion houses won't have much to say.