Zegna's ode to linen at Milan Fashion Week

10 July 2023

  • Fashion
  • Linen

At Milan fashion week, Zegna presented a men's spring-summer 2024 collection with a relaxed, elegant feel that paid particular tribute to the beauty of linen and natural materials.

Zegna men's fashion show SS2024 brown outfit
copyright Zegna

Creative director Alessandro Sartori imagined a veritable ode to linen for Zegna, in a setting featuring 192 scutched flax-linen bales from Normandy. His aim was to lighten, simplify and eliminate superfluous elements, following in the footsteps of the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose philosophy was 'less is more'.

L'Oasi di Lino, Zegna summer 2024 fashion show in Milano

According to the directors of the Italian luxury house, "the best linen in the world" is produced in Normandy. During the show, they also indicated that the flax-linen bales from the show would be recycled in Trivero, the historic headquarters of the Ermenegildo Zegna group. Where they would be transformed into yarn and then into materials used in the manufacture of a large part of Zegna's spring-summer 2024 collections.
Mainly composed of linen, 70% of the fabrics used for the collection come from the Zegna Group's supply chain. The Creative director goes so far as to point out that today's linen has nothing to do with the linen fibres of yesteryear, since this material is now entirely traceable.
The fabrics used have been the subject of in-depth research into the different materials and their treatments.

Zegna spring-summer 2024 show, olive linen look copyright Zegna
Zegna spring-summer 2024 show, white linen look copyright Zegna

"It's a very conceptual collection in terms of spirit, but in fact simple in terms of design. These are new shapes with simple pieces, which hide a great technical construction", as reported by the Fashion Network website following the designer's comments at the end of the show.

The Creative director goes so far as to point out that today's linen has nothing to do with the linen fibres of yesteryear, since this material is now entirely traceable.
The fabrics used have been the subject of in-depth research into the different materials and their treatments.

Creative director's main idea was to offer combinations of garments that allowed the pieces to be interchanged. The shirts are light, the baggy trousers are fluid, the shorts are wide and the jackets - sometimes with shortened sleeves - are unstructured and distinguished by their absence of collars. Every detail of the collection is carefully imagined to create essential, elegant garments. Shades of white and ebony stand out among the profusion of linen models, as do sand, earth, olive and pastel shades of old rose, orange and mint.

"The quality of the raw material combined with our production capabilities give life to an extremely versatile product, like the rest of the Zegna wardrobe, which is increasingly involved in the process of redefining the brand." said Alessandro Sartori, as reported on the L'Officiel website.

With this collection, the designer proposes complex, new cuts that conceal authentic materials. Far from being rigid, the cut of the garments is nonetheless perfectly studied. For Zegna, Alessandro Sartori creates harmonious looks in linen where each piece rhymes with elegance.

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