ZEGNA, in billion-dollar technicolor

Over the past six months, luxury’s biggest names have shown collections in the United States — Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Hermès. On Friday, ZEGNA, the Italian menswear brand founded in 1910, joined the lineup with a breezy, stripe-clad runway on Malibu Pier in Los Angeles — seagulls, surfers, and all. As the only major luxury house singularly focused on menswear, it stands apart from the pack. The wave of European brands descending on the United States is a clear signal of the industry’s bet on the market’s increasingly concentrated wealth. According to Savills, North America accounted for 27% of global luxury store openings in 2025, surpassing China, where store counts fell 2% YOY. The California takeover is only the latest in a series of activations since the company went public, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s leading luxury menswear brands. In June 2025, it staged a similarly large-scale activation in Dubai, alongside smaller events everywhere from Shanghai to Miami, all under the “Villa Zegna” umbrella. At the heart of ZEGNA’s brand strategy lies a paradox. On the one hand, it has the quiet luxury appeal that places it alongside heritage labels such as Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli. Yet its marketing approach and international footprint, particularly in the post-IPO era, more closely resemble those of blockbuster houses like Gucci or Balenciaga. From a small-town wool mill, the Zegnas built a billion-dollar business Thinking big while staying refined is nothing new to the family business. In 1929, the founder Ermenegildo Zegna planted 500,000 trees in the Biellese Alps, reforesting the natural territory now known as Oasi Zegna, home to the family’s wool mill. ZEGNA was also among the first major luxury brands to enter China, in the 1990s. Over the past decade, under third-generation leader Ermenegildo “Gildo” Zegna, who now serves as group executive chairman, the company has transformed into a growing luxury group. In 2018, the company acquired Thom Browne, paving the way for its IPO at a $3.2 billion enterprise value just three years later and, eventually, the acquisition of Tom Ford. Speaking with Mr. Zegna at the brand’s Villa Zegna takeover at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, which had been transformed into a nostalgic recreation of the family’s 1970s vacations, it quickly became clear that despite the brand’s global ambitions, a deep appreciation for textiles and tailoring remains inseparable from the Zegna family DNA. “Look at this fabric. It’s silk and cotton, jacquard. Look at the weave of this,” said Mr. Zegna, tucked away in a shady corner, in his element amid the buzz of people and heat. “Look at this,” he said, rolling his cuff to reveal its red lining. “Look at this, it’s leather,” he added, pointing to the buttons. “And look at the collar. Look at how chic it is.” He described the details of the jacket he was wearing from the latest collection with the attention that might be expected from a creative director rather than an executive chairman. “I suffered at some period of my life because I had to spend too much time on organization,” he said. Clearly, ZEGNA’s ability to scale while preserving the integrity of its textiles is a top-down mandate. That philosophy extends throughout the company’s vertically integrated supply chain, giving it a greater degree of control over quality than many competitors. “I kept the textile division under me because I understand textiles. And I understand that the most strategic competitive advantage of ZEGNA is textiles,” Mr. Zegna said, referring to the company’s structure and succession plan, which recently saw his sons, Angelo and Edoardo, appointed as co-CEOs while he became executive chairman of Zegna Group. Gianluca Tagliabue – a non-family professional – has assumed the role of Group CEO. “The legacy is the most important asset you have. IP and legacy. Much more important than real estate, or the cash you have in the bank. Cash can come and go. We go back to having a focused mind, strong governance, and to applying discipline,” he added. The art and commerce of summer according to Zegna That passion for textiles is matched by artistic director Alessandro Sartori, who earlier in the day guided press through the Summer 2027 collection, staged outdoors in a private bungalow. Sartori showcased the collection’s standout textile techniques, inviting guests to touch each piece while conveying the care and precision behind his designs: linen that felt like suede, the lightest nappa leather I’d ever touched, and an innovative weave of silk, wool, and paper canvas. This collection departs from previous seasons, featuring more color than ZEGNA's standard palette. Stripes are more prominent than ever, with Sartori saying they began as a plaid pattern before being subtracted to leave asymmetrical stripes. “The good thing about Alessandro is that he’s reinventing himself every season,” Mr. Zegna said. So far, the press appears to agree, embracing the collection’s colors, tailoring, wearability, and taste. Craftsmanship was accentuated by the intimacy of the Chateau Marmont setting. Private spaces were transformed to evoke “La Villegiatura,” the inspiration behind the collection and the now-fading Italian tradition of spending an entire summer at a villa. Guests were welcomed by an actor portraying the Zegna family gardener, who traveled with the family to maintain the grounds. Archival 1970s editions of ZEGNA’s menswear magazine, TOP, helped bring the era to life. Together, the texture, asymmetrical stripes, color, and references evoked a lost era of fashion, one that ZEGNA has worked painstakingly to preserve: an era when clothes were designed to be worn, and worn in, despite their price tag. This is not cosplay. The ZEGNA brand generated 1.18 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in revenue in 2025, while the broader Ermenegildo Zegna Group recorded 1.92 billion euros ($2.21 billion) in revenue. Inside Villa Zegna: made-to-measure orders meet fashion theater The Villa Zegna events are commercially driven as much as they are media moments. Throughout the weekend, dozens of private appointments were underway for clients to view the collection and place made-to-measure orders on the spot, underscoring the brand’s ability to blend commerce with storytelling. In a saturated luxury market, where customers increasingly value experiences as much as products, the Villa Zegna series blends the exclusivity of private appointments with the spectacle of fashion shows and exhibitions. For top-spending clients, it’s an excuse to travel to cities like Los Angeles or Dubai and engage with the brand on a more personal level. “The goal is to create new experiences, to reinvent yourself every time around the world. The good thing is that the world is very different,” Mr. Zegna said of choosing locations for the traveling series. The Dubai Opera House show transformed the venue into a tribute to Oasi Zegna and the brand’s reforestation efforts. “The challenge is to pick the right market at the right time. Dubai was a blessing. Thanks to that, we have been so much more resilient than most luxury brands,” Mr. Zegna said of the event and the conflict in the Gulf, which has dealt a blow to luxury performance in the region. The locations of Villa Zegna offer a glimpse into the brand’s market priorities. Mr. Zegna said that one of his ambitions a decade ago was to build a business evenly balanced across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Today, the company is close to achieving that goal. In 2025, EMEA accounted for 36 percent of revenue, the Americas 30 percent, and Greater China 23 percent, with recent results pointing to tentative improvement in China’s D2C channel as the Americas continue to lead growth. Whether in Shanghai, Dubai, or Los Angeles, each Villa Zegna iteration carries its own narrative, but all offer a window into the same world: the Zegna family legacy and exquisite tailoring under Sartori’s direction. The storytelling feels more cohesive than that of many major brands, which can lose their sense of direction in pursuit of spectacle, social media attention, or growth in key markets. ZEGNA has avoided the brand dilution that often befalls fashion houses as they scale or go public, thanks in part to Mr. Zegna’s commitment to prudence in his role as executive chairman. “Never overpromise. Always deliver what you promise. Always tell the truth. If there are issues, put them on the table,” he said of adapting to and respecting shareholder interests. Most brands of its size have buckled, selling fleeting social media hype and handbags. Others have pursued higher margins at the expense of quality, drawing increasing scrutiny from consumers as a result. ZEGNA, by contrast, still sells clothes. And it is remarkably clear about who its customer is. “If I think back 10 or 20 years ago, at the board level, the areas we identified for growth were: M&A, womenswear, and IPO. I think we’ve done two out of the three. We have pressure from investors. You can add this or add that. But I’m very happy to have held out on the third one because the fact that we focus only on menswear made Zegna stronger,” said Mr. Zegna. How Zegna’s family governance model is preparing the brand for a new generation As he passes the baton to his sons, Angelo and Edoardo, while continuing to oversee the group and guide new chapters for Tom Ford and Thom Browne, Mr. Zegna is planning for the next generation, as might be expected from the patriarch of one of fashion’s first families. Under the current fashion order, there is little room for a new luxury group to form. That leaves Zegna Group in a prime position, with three distinct brands positioned for growth. Mr. Zegna’s priorities put the longevity of the family and business above all else, including ego. “The important thing, since I’m head of the business and the family, is to make sure the family is united. I think governance is even more important than discipline. Because if you are disciplined and you don't have the governance, you have to use authority. And using authority is not very good, especially with the young generation. You have to be more democratic today.” That willingness to adapt to a new generation offers hope for a fashion industry increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and the relentless pressures of growth. In doing so, ZEGNA appears to be striking a balance that has long haunted the luxury sector: how does a brand grow without losing its luxury status? ZEGNA, with the ease of a summer vacation, manages to reconcile opposing forces. Italian, yet international. Intimate, yet influential. Family-run, yet public. Ask Mr. Zegna, it comes down to the material of a button.

ZEGNA, in billion-dollar technicolor

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

Upgrade to Pro

Sectors

Insights

Company

ZEGNA, in billion-dollar technicolor

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag