Zegna FW24 Reshapes Cashmere Into a New Set of Classics
At Milan’s Allianz Mico, creative director Alessandro Sartori sent his designs on a carousel around a humungous heap of bright orange woolen scraps.
A colossal pile of cashmere flakes collected in the center of Zegna’s Fall/Winter 2024 runway, inside Milan’s Allianz Mico. The beaming heap was colored in the Italian fashion house’s classic vicuna hue, and it was meant to resemble the brand’s sala delle mischie, or the blending rooms at its headquarters, Oasi Zegna, in Trivero, Italy. This show was about highlighting the advancements in the menswear imprint’s laboratory, a place where creative director Alessandro Sartori says he “can tirelessly expore new fabrications, develop new forms, devise forward-looking clothing solutions suited for the now.” What emerged from Zegna’s factory on Monday afternoon was an open system, in which versatility was in the vanguard.
James Blake, a friend of the House, worked with Sartori to compose the spectacle’s catastrophically beautiful soundtrack. Lyrics, from the artist’s discography, were painful: “In the end, it was friends that broke my heart.” Those words echoed through the cosmic venue over and over again, matching the “motifs and thoughts of the collection,” per the show notes.
“I’m building a new set of classics,” Sartori told Hypebeast of the line, following the show. Zegna’s new shapes built on the House’s active ones to avoid what the designer calls “multi-purposeless,” or a lack of adaptability. Sartori defined “classics” as “generous, effortless and durable.” He added, “You should be able to style them in many different ways.” To meet these requirements, the fashioner prioritized scholarly editing, thoughtful layering and a (mostly) monochromatic finish.
In practice, Sartori reimagined the loden coat with three layers of cashmere, stitched together like a sandwich. He transformed a quilted jacket with a “sonic welded duvet,” fitted between two sheets of cashmere. Sweaters, with puckered sectionals, internal padding and shaved cashmere facades, were left as the outermost layer in many ensembles. “Cashmere is the chosen fiber in wintertime,” Sartori affirmed.
Cashmere crumbs fell from the ceiling, landing on top of the woolen mountain while models circled it with sullen faces that matched Blake’s somber music. The central textile became the hero, enveloping double-collared blazers, collarless anoraks, blousons, vests and the new “II Conte” jacket. Gloves, too, employed the fabric, adopting the occasional check to match the few patterned sweaters in the line. Even the plongé leather jackets were backed with cashmere.
“In the Oasi of Cashmere, transformation is affirmed as evolution and adaptation, style as effortlessness,” the show notes concluded. Evidently, the modern Zegna man appreciates a distilled, high-quality garment that earns the timeless title of a classic. He ignores trends and instead abides by the laws of his own personal style, which stays hot for its pared-back image. And with all this cashmere, it’s safe to say he’ll never go cold.
See Zegna’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Milan Fashion Week coverage.
