To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its entry to the ready-to-wear business, Ermenegildo Zegna Group is putting on an archive exhibition, “UOMINI ALL’ITALIANA 1968. Zegna Ready-to-Wear: from the tailor to industry”, from 6 May to 28 October. It focuses on the origins of Zegna ready-to-wear in the decade from 1968 to the late 1970s.
Photographs, period pieces and vintage garments from the company’s historical archives tell the story of how high-quality textile production grew by successful commercialization of sartorial expertise into a luxury lifestyle brand.
It was in 1968 that Ermenegildo Zegna’s two sons Angelo and Aldo decided to diversify into ready-to-wear. As their father had done with high-quality menswear fabrics, the brothers managed to anticipate the changes occurring in Italian society and modernize their offering by industrializing age-old sartorial craft to meet market demand, and without compromising the hallmark excellence of Zegna fabrics.
Going beyond fabrics and mass production, Angelo and Aldo positioned the company as a lifestyle brand. Their ready-to-wear offering began retailing through in-store franchises and made its first showing at PITTI in 1976. Their initiative was the beginning of what has become a fully verticalized luxury offering that now includes a comprehensive range of both clothing and accessories.
Over the fifty years that followed, Ermenegildo Zegna continued to extend its offering and consolidate its international standing as the leading maker of luxury menswear and accessories.
Every Sunday from 6 May to 3 June, when the exhibition is open, Casa Zegna is also offering “Ci vuole stoffa”, a program of workshops for kids inspired by the principles of Montessori’s Cosmic Education and focusing on the craft of tailoring. From the construction of suits with paper to exploring the units of measurement for the human body and experimenting with colors. Some of these events will be outdoors, at Cascina Caruccia in the Conca dei Rododendri.
Here’s the full calendar:
Sunday 6 May
Made to measure living. Construction of paper modules, ie. made to measure inhabitable dens. Age: 6-12 years
At Casa Zegna
Sunday 20 May
Getting used to the light. A game for smaller kids involving the construction and refraction of light and color.
And for older kids, construction of colored frame-modules. Age: 3-13 years
At the Conca dei Rododendri – Cascina Caruccia
Sunday 27 May
Anthropometry: measuring the body. Feet, thumbs, spans, palms.
Parts of the body transferred to paper to become instruments. Age: 4-8 years.
At Casa Zegna
Sunday 3 June
Living words. How space constructs the sense of the words we write.
A typographical experience for kids starting with the “Montessori Daisy”.
Age: 6-10 years. At Conca dei Rododendri – Cascina Caruccia
INFO: “UOMINI ALL’ITALIANA 1968. Zegna Ready-to-Wear: from the tailor to industry” will be open from 6 May to 28 October 2018, every Sunday from 14.30 to 18.30. The workshops for kids (curated by social cooperative Il Filo da tessere) start at 15.30.
CASA ZEGNA, Via Marconi, 23 – Trivero (Biella), tel. 015 7591463
