Zegna in search of the Golden Fleece A monumental new collection that perpetuates Zegna's innovation and contemporary elegance

The FW25 show by Zegna, which traditionally closes the Milan Fashion Week, began with an inspiration: pieces from Ermenegildo Zegna’s wardrobe, still preserved in the brand’s archives. A tailoring style that, during the press preview, creative director Alessandro Sartori described as “Turinese,” meaning pleasantly traditional, warm in its familiarity. Following this inspiration, while also evoking the tradition established by the founder, Sartori centered the collection on Vellus Aureum, the finest wool in the world, selected by Zegna through the iconic Wool Trophy Awards. With a fineness record of 9.4 microns achieved in 2023, this fiber becomes the symbol of an endless pursuit of perfection in the collection: finer than cashmere but longer and more resistant, the Vellus Aureum fiber wasn’t used to create delicate and ethereal fabrics but, on the contrary, to craft thick and structured silhouettes, unstructured but endowed with a unique profile and definition, thanks to significant work done, starting in 2020, on volumes and thicknesses. Moreover, the collection features exquisite materials such as cashmere, cotton corduroy velvet, and mohair, while vegetable-tanned calf leather offers unique softness, almost "buttery," and a surface that changes and alters over time uniquely for each piece – a quality technically referred to as “scrivenza.”

Regarding colors, Zegna chose a palette reminiscent of Australian landscapes, an inspiration for its ongoing innovation in the wool industry. A particularly interesting shade is wine, a kind of deep yet bright red reminiscent of Barolo hues, while colors like fossil, juniper, dark foliage, serra, and beaver mix in a play of natural tones, offering an interpretation that is both a tribute to nature and a symbol of Zegna’s tradition. Tradition is crucial because Zegna is one of the few brands capable of managing its supply chain from sheep farming to store shelves, granting the brand almost total control over material production and innovation. During the preview, Gildo Zegna emphasized the importance of "think slow, act fast," an invitation to take time to reflect and choose consciously while designing a luxury that is not only aesthetic but also ethical. In this collection, Zegna redefines the concept of luxury, a luxury that is "expensive but not costly," a luxury that endures over time, never self-serving but part of a process respecting nature, tradition, and craftsmanship.