Zegna SS26 Is Laid-Back Luxury At its Finest
Showing outside of Milan for the first time in Dubai, the Italian label offers a lesson in relaxed retro elegance with vacation-ready looks.
Summary
- Departing from its Milan runway, Zegna has presented its SS26 show in Dubai. The collection blends tailored details with laid-back silhouettes adorned with summer checks, stripes, and a mixture of dessert hues, green, pink, and red.
Zegna took its runway presentation away from Milan for the first time to showcase its SS26 collection in Dubai, along with bringing its travelling “Villa Zegna” brand experience to the destination.
Kicked off by a live piano performance from British singer and producer James Blake, the runway show took on a more relaxed tone than Zegna’s more austere contemporary sensibilities presented in previous seasons. The opening looks are made with various lightweight, pre-wrinkled fabrics covered in desert-hued checks and stripes. Characterized by popped collars, open chests, barefoot with sandals in tow, and garments tied from the neck and waist, the styling gives further emphasis to the vacation-ready mood.
Then Zegna takes the audience to a verdant oasis with a burst of green looks, featuring a spectrum of lime, olive, and forest green. Textured linens, light wools, and lustrous silks are used for cleanly tailored blousons, two-piece sets, and pleated shorts. Key design details include Safari-style utility pockets, monk and camp collars, and deep V-necks.
Finally, the show closes with a saturated sunset palette, featuring violet-tinted pinks, warm coral, maroon, and deep Bordeaux reds. The exuberant finale demonstrates Zegna’s more expressive and youthful side, speaking to Gen Z’s tastes with candy-colored pieces, including a pink, oversized waffle knit polo and high-cut pink dress shorts.
The wealthy UAE desert city, known for its luxury shopping malls and futuristic mega towers, is an important market for the brand, given the country’s growing luxury clientele. According to WWD, in 2024, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, which also owns Thom Browne and Tom Ford Fashion, sales exceeded $700M USD in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, making for 35% of the group’s revenues. Zegna has six stores in the city, as well as other Middle East outposts in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Turkey.
See the gallery above for a closer look at the Zegna SS26 collection.
