Ermenegildo Zegna Couture – Autumn 2019

An improvised runway creates a mix of paths that cross in the open spaces of the corridors of Milano Centrale, the train station that has become a reference for the city.

A place of endless passage, where people from all walks of life have gathered for almost a century and continue to do so at every hour of every day, coming and going. This place, driven by diversity, acts as the animated backdrop of a collection that is a connection of mixtures.

“Borders keep being narrowed throughout the world,” said Alessandro Sartori, artistic director of Zegna. “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 forefront, with a focus on tailored pieces made for a life in the concrete jungle to match the needs of fast, connected lives. Categories are mixed and hybridized: jackets have large 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.

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. Knits are used as 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.

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, blue, khaki, green, lit by touches of absinthe and citrine quartz.