
Zegna in search of the Golden Fleece
A monumental new collection that perpetuates Zegna's innovation and contemporary elegance
January 21st, 2025
Alberto Castellano
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.”
As always, the idea of the collection was to create an almost modular wardrobe, where old and future collections could integrate freely, allowing not only full use but also inheritance. The silhouette is deliberately unstructured, with enveloping volumes and rethought proportions, as seen in unstructured blazers and oversized coats with cashmere fur collars. As mentioned, Sartori focused on the idea of a wardrobe that transcends generations, blending iconic pieces from a lived past, reimagined with absolutely modern details and techniques – it’s no coincidence that Zegna collections have a long gestation period of twelve months, allowing for every kind of experimentation and refinement. Jackets, soft knit shirts, and high-waisted trousers worn without belts, aiming for the simplest wardrobe possible, become expressions of an elegant yet relaxed style: sloped shoulders, boxy volumes. The jackets’ construction itself has been studied to create a relaxed posture when hands are in pockets. And these pockets, low and diagonal, almost invite spontaneous gestures. For their practicality and timeless quality, many jackets are also inspired by military models, significantly softened and designed with a V-neckline, a feature present throughout the collection.
Other pieces, especially those in velvet, have been washed to create a lived-in effect, another tribute to “Grandpa Zegna’s” wardrobe, which, for example, inspired Sartori to use tweed for a coat constructed in a classic style but with a detachable cashmere fur vest that can be worn separately. Elsewhere, the light yet warm cashmere jackets have solid, compact volumes but remain incredibly soft, thanks to a double thickness creating a short, thoroughly contemporary silhouette. A particularly interesting piece is a hairy sweater made from a fabric called “toothbrush” alpaca and wool, brushed and pressed to create a uniform effect while capturing light. Following the idea of a modular wardrobe, the classic Conte jacket has been transformed into a vest with thick, dense consistency, while a bomber-like model in mélange gray seems robust but turns out to be incredibly soft to the touch thanks to its double material thickness. Some jackets, on the other hand, lack internal construction and lining, structured only by the soft yet resilient materials they’re cut from: once again, paired with the idea of garment durability is the concept of ease of wear, the possibility of effortlessly slipping into them. The shoes are more classic: primarily represented by traditional loafers with leather and rubber soles.

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.