ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA FALL WINTER 2019 MEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK

Walks of life

Life, streamed. A makeshift runway creates a tangle of crossing paths in the open spaces of the hall of Milano Centrale, the railway station that’s a landmark of the city. A place of endless passage, where individuals of all walks of life have met for almost a century, and continue to do so every hour of every day, arriving and departing. This place fueled on diversity acts as the lively backdrop of a collection that is a connection of diversities.

“Borders keep being narrowed throughout the world – says Zegna Artistic Director Alessandro Sartori – I felt the urge to advocate the power of openness and multiplicity through my own means as a fashion designer, expressing awareness and responsibility at every step of the creative process, from textile-making to devising new categories of clothing to the staging of the fashion show in such a meaningful place. In doing so, I keep perfecting my vision of the contemporary metropolitan wardrobe: an idea of tailoring for a cross-generation of global customers”

This season, a soft sense of formality comes to the fore, attuned to the industrial drum of the concrete jungle to match the needs of fast, connected lives. Categories are mixed and hybridized: jackets have outerwear pockets; shirts become jackets in boxy, functional volumes; blousons sport tailored collars; cargo pants are sartorially inclined. Even the quilted puffer jackets are constructed in the tailoring atelier, gaining an elevated touch. The silhouette is personal, effortless and taut.

Outerwear, either long or cropped, is dramatic and voluminous, with bubbly bombers, quilted parkas with detachable collars and knit overcoats; jackets have lean, longer volumes, concealed closures and geometric pockets; full trousers narrow towards the elasticated bottom. Knit is a building block that offers further textural stimulation. The energy of the connection is highlighted by the spirited mix of patterns: jacquards singularly adapted to each garment; textural weaves of cashmere, paper and leather; slogans and metropolitan scenes turned into bold visual abstractions either as prints or jacquards.

Looks are grounded on bold-soled zippered boots and multi-material sneakers, with the iconic Cesare being available for complete customization as #MyCesare is launched online on the night of the show. Those seeking to personalise with My Cesare can do so in-store, at selected Ermenegildo Zegna stores worldwide, and online post-show on Farfetch and WeChat. In keeping with the assertive functional mood, bags are roomy and geometric, with modular solutions.

Fusion and manipulation are the bywords fabric-wise, too. Under the slogan #UseTheExisting, the collection, supported by the Zegna textile division, is almost entirely made with exclusive wool, cashmere and nylon fabrics created with innovative processes from pre-existing sources. The result is a luxuriously supple yet responsible fabrications that are recycled as well as recyclable. The exclusive fabrics give a dense, textural shimmer to a metropolitan palette of white, Felt, Commissar and Warsaw greys, Beluga black, Notte blue, khaki, Syberian green, lit by touches of Absinthe and Citrine quartz and amalgamated into fused compositions.

Diversities get connected, at every level, and streamed live across all the screens in Milano Centrale for passersby to enjoy and further connect.

Credits: Alessandro Sartori Artistic Direction, Wladimir Schall Music, Bureau Betak Event Design Direction and Production