Throughout the years, Zegna has been known by many names. Its main fashion line is tagged as Ermenegildo Zegna. The runway collections under former artistic director Stefano Pilati were referred to as Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, and then rebranded as Ermenegildo Zegna XXX when Alessandro Sartori assumed the role.
Now, everything (at least progressively) will simply be 'Zegna'.
The '(Re)Branding' is centred around the idea of a road, and in turn, a path towards greatness and a better future. The official press release describes how founder Ermenegildo Zegna built the company in Piedmont, Italy over 110 years ago, paving a road "made up of ideas and principles, of the very fabric of tomorrow." That includes "ethical entrepreneurship"—Ermenegildo built Oasi Zegna, a natural territory of 100km2 to bring renewed life to the mountainside near the company's origins.
So strong and significant is the Zegna road (an emphasis on the journey more than the destination) that a new logo has been created resembling it. The new signifier is a double-stripe graphic consisting of a strip of black flanked by vicuna-coloured blocks, effectively a representation of the road that's now central to the Zegna story. It's singular-named logo is also slightly refreshed with a more modernised font.
These two new branding elements will be progressively rolled out into every facet of Zegna's branding. In Singapore, its boutique at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, has already been fitted with the refreshed branding. But a fine example of how future collections could be tagged is the recently released outdoor capsule collection.
With Sartori's direction of turning Zegna's foundation in tailoring towards luxury leisurewear (with tailoring elements as its basis), the outdoor capsule collection extends that into activewear. But since Zegna is by no means an expert in the field, the brand has partnered up with a series of collaborators on a number of pieces, especially in the collection's more specific form-and-function pieces such as mountaineering shoes and ski helmets. Most importantly, the collection plays up the new branding, incorporating them almost seamlessly.
The outdoor capsule collection is set to be the first instalment of an ongoing series. We're not quite sure what's coming up next but what's certain is that it will be one long, exciting road ahead for Zegna.
The Zegna outdoor capsule collection is now available at Zegna boutiques.
