“Strong Families make strong Business” according to Gildo Zegna CEO Ermenegildo Zegna

Lara Mansour   |   27-12-2015

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How heavy is the legacy of the name you are carrying today, reflecting a brand with around 100 years of heritage?

Zegna has a history of luxury and excellence that spans more than 100 years, which is most certainly an important part of our brand’s success. Whatever we do today will have an impact on the future, and yet it must also enhance what we have received as a legacy.

Our appreciation for art, nature and communities has been a strong part of the Zegna DNA since the very beginning, as are innovation and a certain “globalisation” in the sourcing of raw materials from all over the world. I once commented on how strongly I believe in culture as part of our legacy. Thanks to culture, there is innovation, and thanks to innovation, there is employment, progress and growth. I am convinced that culture can contribute to strengthening economic growth and, for what concerns my company, reinforcing the image and the power of “Made in Italy” around the world. This is part of the legacy that I believe we will be remembered for 100 years from now.

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Being in a family business, what can you tell us about the pros and cons of it?

Well, as a family business we have a certain agility in decision-making and can quickly take action when starting new things or changing something. As we tend to know what and how others think, and have been working together for a long time, we don’t need a lot of time to make the necessary arrangements once we’ve decided on a course of action. Another advantage of being a family business is that everyone shares the importance of protecting our history and understands the fact that the traditions, techniques and capabilities we possess are precious assets.

On the other hand, there are also some risks that come with a family business, such as the occasional stubbornness, or the risk of straying from the vertical integration model. The fact that the Ermenegildo Zegna Group cultivates many important projects, including activities such as Fondazione Zegna and the Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship, there is the opportunity for each of us to spearhead what most interests us. These initiatives are an important part of helping Zegna remain flexible and open while strengthening the family business.

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What do you think defines luxury for men today? And how do you see the future of luxury menswear?

I would say that uniqueness and authenticity are fundamental aspects of luxury today. Luxury is something that is conducive to inner wellbeing, regardless of its intrinsic value, and that enables someone to connect with the world with increased freedom and authority. On the other hand, if I consider my own life, I would need to define true luxury as time: the time that one can dedicate to himself and that is increasingly difficult to find.

Who is the Zegna man?

The Zegna man is self-confident and knows what he wants from life. Self-confidence is the essential characteristic that modern times require from us. Without such confidence, without believing in himself, it’s not possible for a man to stand up to the choices he makes, or to deal with the opportunities and issues presented in his daily life. It’s important to remember that our customers don’t just buy a suit, they buy a brand and what it stands for. They appreciate the quality of our offerings, but perhaps more importantly, they identify with our DNA and values. This goes beyond the mere aesthetics of choosing a wardrobe. In choosing our brand they are also sharing our attention to the social and environmental conditions in which our products are produced.

We are gradually approaching a younger generation of customers by diversifying our offering. An example of this is the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture collection, designed by Stefano Pilati, which offers a modern uniform for what we call the “New Leadership Generation.” These are self-confident yet unpretentious men who are ethical, respectful of the planet and of people, and who are also elegant and style conscious.

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Ermenegildo Zegna Couture SS16

I’ve visited recently your store in Milan, with its very special interior design and wide offering of product lines from Z ZEGNA to Couture to Su Misura. Tell us more about each of the Zegna lines today, to whom do they appeal, and what sets them apart?

We believe in innovation and in being pioneers. An example of this is our Su Misura service, which offers clients a completely personalised tailoring experience. We were one of the first brands to launch a made-to-measure service in the Seventies, and a few seasons ago we introduced Su Misura Casual Luxury as a natural evolution of Su Misura.

Thanks to Su Misura Casual Luxury, we have broadened our made-to-measure service to also include a casual wardrobe suitable for any informal occasion, consisting of personalised denim, outerwear and knitwear.

As a result of our investment in retail and direct management, Zegna is now present in over 100 countries around the world with more than 500 brand stores, of which 298 are company owned. In the past years, we have tried to meet the needs of different types of customers by diversifying our offerings and products. In addition to the classic formal Ermenegildo Zegna Couture SS16 suiting, an emblem of elegance and tradition that has become synonymous with our brand over the years, Zegna is also recognised for casual wear.

To attract customers who value fashion and new trends, in 2013 Stefano Pilati was asked to design the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture collection. It’s a collection in which the company’s heritage is combined with soft, modern and sophisticated lines in the search for a unique style. The Spring/Summer 2015 season, on the other hand saw the debut of the new Z ZEGNA, a mix of tailoring and multifunctional sportswear.

All of our collections are complemented by a wide range of textile and leather accessories, as well as licensed products developed with prestigious international brands such as Girard Perregaux for watches and Estée Lauder fragrances.

Tell us about the recent collaboration with Maserati.

We launched a long-term partnership with Maserati in 2013, but even before that, we had already collaborated with the Fiat Group and, in particular, with Maserati. Our partnership with Maserati is a natural fit in that both brands represent the epitome of Italian design and manufacturing excellence worldwide. The first concrete result of the partnership was the creation of an Ermenegildo Zegna Limited Edition Quattroporte in 2014 in honor of the Maserati Centennial. The Maserati flagship automobile was reinterpreted and customised with new colors, materials and trims inspired by Ermenegildo Zegna, and in particular, the interior fabrics were produced by Lanificio Zegna, our historic wool mill in Trivero. There were only 100 of these Limited Edition Quattroporte’s produced, each with their own unique number.

The second step of the partnership has been to become, within 2015, the interior supplier of the Ermenegildo Zegna edition trim package for all the Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli models.

Created for a luxury bracket of consumers who appreciate fine details, this new trim package has been designed as the ultimate expression of style and exclusivity with a contrasting color scheme that combines precious leather with valuable Zegna fabrics.

I should add that I’m quite pleased with what we are doing with Maserati, as it is one of the car manufacturers with the most allure, tradition and sporting success worldwide. We both have a longstanding industrial tradition and will continue to combine a tailored attention to detail, style and design with cutting-edge technology within the world of luxury automobiles.

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We are seeing a lot of fashion brands and in specific luxury fashion ones launching their own lines of unique fragrancesTell us more about this recent trend, and in specific the Essenze collection you are offering.

Essenze is an exclusive collection of signature fragrances, whereby each is the ultimate expression of one raw material with its own unique provenance. Italian Bergamot from Calabria is the common thread that unites the scents, the newest of which is Acqua di Bergamotto. This latest fragrance is an aromatic water that is fresh and summery, and can be used by both men and women.

Creating excellence with carefully sourced materials is part of Zegna’s history and of our DNA. The Bergamot crop used to craft Essenze comes from a single field planted and harvested for the sole purpose of creating Essenze. Whether creating precious fabrics or extraordinary fragrances, the ability to manage the entire process starting from the raw materials themselves is a privilege that allows us to ensure the highest quality and maximum control at the production level, which is then clearly transferred to the final product.

Zegna probably is one of the very few brands if not the only, that is founding a Scholarship to allow students to study abroad. Tell us more.

Social responsibility has been part of our heritage since the time of my grandfather, Ermenegildo. In line with his teachings and values, Zegna Group is deeply conscious of its public duties and responsibilities and this commitment translates to a continued support to solidarity initiatives in Italy and abroad. The Ermenegildo Zegna Founders Scholarship is an important example of this. We wanted to offer a tangible opportunity for talented students while helping take responsibility for the future of our country. Creating the conditions for a recovery, not just of the economy but of the whole of Italian society, depends both on the global economy, and on a more fundamental level, our ability to offer to talented young men and women a future here in Italy so that their skills can create value. We believe the future of these students falls within the sphere of our generation’s responsibilities, which is why we decided to make a concrete, and I believe, important contribution through the launch of our scholarship program.

Today a lot of brands are infusing art through their business, be it collaborations, communication and more. How would you describe the relation between Zegna and art?

Fashion and art are deeply connected, as both stem from creative concepts and minds able to reinterpret and mould the reality surrounding them. Our interest in the arts started already with my grandfather, Ermenegildo Zegna, who founded the company over 100 years ago and who first understood the role of aesthetics and beauty.

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I believe that art in all its forms, from photography to sculpture and from cinema to design, always leaves something positive behind. I am speaking as an amateur and not an expert, but in this way, art is capable of inspiring our minds and our hearts. When we created ZegnArt in 2012, our aim was to foster a series of activities within contemporary art both in Italy and abroad as a natural continuation of the commitment towards the arts that is deeply rooted in my family. ZegnArt represents a “place” where the vital forces of our time can come together, be put on display and become accessible to the public – which is the most important aspect of all. Our objective with ZegnArt, thanks to the inherent collaboration that characterises it, is to help promote a dialog between countries and cultures all over the world. This is why we decided to celebrate a new chapter of ZegnArt in tandem with the opening of EXPO 2015, for example.

From fashion to art to nature as Zegna is a whole wide world, tell us more about Oasi Zegna and your commitment to society.

As I mentioned earlier, environmental responsibility and eco-sustainability have deep roots within the company, and our absolute commitment to quality, respect for the environment and sustainable growth have been an integral part of Zegna’s DNA since the very beginning. In the 1930s my grandfather created one of the earliest Italian industrial examples of environmental and social patronage when he reforested the mountain slopes near Trivero by planting 500,000 pines and hundreds of rhododendrons and hydrangeas. He also established welfare facilities for the local community and constructed what is now known as the “Panoramica Zegna” road.

Oasi Zegna is a protected area spanning 100 km2 that was established in 1993 for the study, protection and development of the eastern Biella Alps. It has now become an “open-air laboratory” focusing on relationships between people, mountain culture and nature. In 2000, we established Fondazione Zegna to manage and promote the philanthropic activities of the Zegna family in support of organisations all over the world that work to improve society and the environment.

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Our commitment to environmental and social responsibility extends to our business as well. We actively work to produce the highest quality products with the lowest impact on the environment. Year after year, we pursue continuous research to ensure the highest quality of our products in absolute respect for the environment. Water conservation and the use of hydroelectric power at the historical Lanificio Zegna wool mill is an example of this strategy. Thanks to a fully integrated vertical production model that starts with the sourcing of the finest raw materials, among which is Australian Merino wool derived from the Group’s very own farm, we are able to rigorously control production standards every step of the way.

Then there are social and cultural projects such as ZegnArt and the Ermenegildo Zegna Founders Scholarship that I spoke of earlier. These projects were launched in 2012 and 2014 respectively and seek to bring art, culture and education to the world at large.

The Zegna Trophy is given on a yearly basis to the growers of the best quality wool. Tell us more about this initiative.

To ensure the quality of every Zegna product, the Ermenegildo Zegna Group is directly involved in all aspects of production starting with sourcing and support of the raw materials themselves. Because noble raw materials are the foundation of Zegna’s offer, our continued support of wool growers is an important part of the group’s strategy.

The very first “Ermenegildo Zegna Extrafine Wool Trophy” was established in 1963 to stimulate production of the fine and superfine Merino wool in Australia. It was created in association with the Australian Superfine Woolgrowers Association (ASWGA) at a time in which most wool growers were focusing on large frame, coarser wool, sheep that could guarantee a greater profit margin. Because Zegna believed strongly that there was a future in fine fabrics, and to create such fabrics it was critical to have fine – or better, superfine wool fibers – the trophy program was set up to encourage breeders to produce fine wool and reward their efforts to obtain finer fibers and higher quality.

The competition was held in Tasmania, although it was open to the best and finest Merino fleece produced by any grower in the world, and in the end there were 27 entries from various States of Australia. In fact, the Zegna Trophy, which continues to be the only non-commercial competition of its kind, is awarded to the most outstanding fleeces submitted for judging by an independent panel of experts according to specific criteria set by ASWGA.

Looking back to 1910 and until today, Zegna is by all means a success story. What is a lesson you have learnt from your father that was passed on to you?

Ermenegildo Zegna stands for quality, style and a pioneering vision, values set forth by my grandfather Ermenegildo when he established the company in 1910. As Zegna has grown from a producer of ultra-fine fabrics to a worldwide luxury brand whose offer extends beyond fabrics and menswear to luxury lifestyle accessories, the company retains many of the features that have helped develop its unique identity. These include our passion, commitment to excellence, investment in innovation, and the ability to combine traditional elements in a contemporary fashion. Such characteristics ensure that we are continually able to accommodate our growing customer base, evolving and extending our offer to meet the needs of our loyal customers as well as a new generation of younger clients.

As you can see, we learnt many lessons from my grandfather that were then reinforced by my father. I feel lucky that they left us with such a strong heritage, savoir-faire in craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, ethical values, passion for our work, discipline and the importance of the smallest of details. Our commitment to honoring and upholding these values is rooted in long family tradition and forms one of the pillars of our success.

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What is your personal motto?

“Strong families make strong business.”

Since 2006 and with all the objectives that you’ve achieved, what are you looking for next?

One of our primary goals has been to strengthen our market presence by developing our network of directly managed stores and to consolidate our e-commerce channel. We have also been highly focused on presenting our customers and markets with a complete range of products and a globally consistent customer experience and service approach. This includes collaboration with companies such as Maserati and Estée Lauder that enable us to innovate our offering together with partners that share similar values as our own.

With Stefano Pilati as Ermenegildo Zegna Couture Head of Design, we are now recognised for our fashion-forward luxury menswear, and as a result, we are evolving our collections to address the emerging needs of our customers.

Aligned with the evolution of our offering, we are moving towards a 360° approach to the customer that encompasses all aspects of the Zegna World. It’s an Omnichannel approach in which online and offline, retail and e-commerce, local and central, are no longer separate but united to create a unique customer experience. This includes investing in travel retail as an important growth channel, the realisation of exclusive projects in key local markets similar to what we recently did in Japan, and the enrichment of Zegna’s World Pass experience. Such initiatives are concrete evidence of the pioneering vision in products and projects that has been part of our success since the very beginning, and will continue to drive us to pursue excellence and innovation in the years to come.

By Lara Mansour Sawaya

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