Zegna Fall Winter 2022: building and walking new paths
By Eduardo Limón
Ermenegildo Zegna is a house truly committed to changing history. Yours, of course, but also that of menswear, tailoring and the industry as a whole. To show the collection that he has presented this January 2022 with his eyes on autumn-winter; a coherent and exciting continuation of what we have seen in the firm since 2016 —especially what was proposed during the pandemic years— by Alessandro Sartori. A declaration of power and respect for its DNA, as it has been manifested in the brand in recent months, when the identity of the label has been modified in a kind of historical reassessment of who it is and where it is going today.
First, it is not a minor matter that this is the first collection after it was announced that Ermenegildo Zegna was successfully debuting on Wall Street on December 20, 2021. A fact that made it the first Italian fashion brand to be listed on this corridor and a luxury house that was taking its first step towards a truly innovative model. At the time, Gildo Zegna —CEO— said: “The reason we are here is that we need scale. The new Zegna is a great start up; we need to focus our resources and energies on it.” To which he also pointed out possible acquisitions of suppliers. "If you don't control the supply chain, you're not going anywhere," he said.
And if we add to this business vision the important legacy that the firm carries, in addition to the revolutionary vision of Alessandro Sartori, we are talking about one of the strongest fashion brands we have today.
A Path Worth Taking
Under the title of A path worth traveling, the analogies of routes and trails continue at Zegna. And it is that following its own route has distinguished the brand since 1910; especially, after the urban design of its founder in the area of Trivero, which he considered - you can imagine - a road to the Oasi Zegna.
Taking this path as inspiration, in a reflection on the multiple meanings of “the journey” and the spirit of the brand, Sartori once again revolutionizes what we have understood today as tailoring.
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“I continue to look at the world through the eyes of Zegna. The reality in which we live today demands adaptability; it asks all of us to be flexible. Transferring this idea to clothing means building a language of shapes and textures that grows and consolidates over time, adjusting to the needs of the moment. The notion of the hybrid is something that I continue to explore, because progress consists in erasing rigid categories”, says the creative director.
And indeed, in a very different sphere from where the usual menswear labels inhabit —“for the office”, “casual”, “everyday”. “for lounging”—this collection gently but firmly assesses how contemporary style should look and feel: functional and individual, comfortable but non-conformist, heralding a renewed idea of formality that transitions seamlessly from outdoor living to life inside.
What we saw at Ermenegildo Zegna FW 22
Above all: volumes. How amazing are the new silhouettes that Zegna proposes for this Fashion Week in Milan; so free and so full of possibilities. The new masculine elegance occurs in structures like these; write it down
As we already saw in his SS22 collection, the division between inside and outside, layers and outerwear, continually blurs and turns.
The silhouette for fall winter 2022 is fluid but sharp, made of effortless mixes of garments: tabarro coats and jackets, utility jackets, parkas, anoraks and pullovers, pants that taper at the hem. Collars, pockets and zippers feature subtle details that bring out movement, making it an essential part of the construction.
The film
Lastly, escaping from live presentations, Zegna has shown this collection through a film that plays with points of view and different shots to take us from outdoor settings —so currently longed for— to interior spaces that may well fall into a mental abstraction. Intimate places where the only prevailing logic is ours. Rooms for our own thoughts and emotions, furnished with the evolution that this age demands.
Who of us doesn't already have that well-measured room inside?
