As a designer of quietly discerning taste, Stefano Pilati fits in well at Zegna. Taking most of his cues from the tweedy mastery of classic tailoring and mixing it up a little with chic uber-modern twists Pilati delivered. We aren’t sure backpacks being worn back-to-front will be all the rage at Pitti in a few months of course, but Pilati did what’s best for Zegna in a runway setting.
Meaning, mainly, his man had a gunmetal sheen cool to him with thin new wave-y ties and next to no collars at all, instead some sharp Nehru-style jackets were conceived. In this way, the designer displayed throughout a new way of approaching menswear, maturely and subtlety with just the right amount of provocation that attest to a confidence but not a showiness. If Pilati can sustain this feat for the brand, we don’t see why it can’t mean big things, and big shakeups, for the traditional city uniform of the everyday gent.
With a collected winter focus too, Zegna have not confined their well-respected customer to a claustrophobic Tetris formation of layers, which have unfortunately become commonplace this season. We’d buy into this collection in a split-second, because at Zegna they know how much the design counts.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com