If any brand understands how to do big tentpole spectacles with a degree of subtlety, it’s undoubtedly Zegna.
The cutting-edge textile merchant, whose ready-to-wear division has been overseen by Alessandro Sartori since 2016, closed out Milan Fashion Week with a FW24 runway titled ‘The Oasi of Cashmere’: packed to bursting with an A-list front row and the sort of sumptuous, effortlessly technical clothes that have been Zegna’s forte for a hot minute.
The show, anchored around a mound of camel cashmere — which grew gradually into a mountain, as tufts of the stuff floated down from on high — was sound-tracked by none other than James Blake. Sartori handpicked the award-winning British musician (and elite-tier watch collector) after listening to Friends That Break Your Heart.
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As it turns out, that track’s cosmic, phase-shifting cadence (and Blake’s musical stylings in general) were a great fit for Zegna FW24: giving form to a collection that, as in previous years, was “envisioned as a complete system of dressing.” Four categories — in Sartori’s words, “tops, bottoms, underpinnings, accessories” — are all given sufficient substance through modality.
The show notes mightn’t have said so explicitly, but it’s easy to imagine the sort of customer Sartori had in mind when conceiving the collection. Some, you might argue, were even in attendance.
Between Michael Fassbender and everybody’s favorite Danish thesp, Mads Mikkelsen; the Zegna man seems to be an erudite, globe-trotting creature — as sensitive about the environmental impact of his clothing as he is its beauty. (It was no coincidence that Zegna used the FW24 show as an opportunity to announce its Oasi Cashmere fibres are now 100% traceable.)
And the clothes themselves? As good, future-proofed, and quietly decadent as you could hope for. Parisian designers may be retreating from the oversized look, but at Oasi Zegna, Sartori is going bigger than ever: leaning into the swaddling, protective aura of natural fibres.
A jacket of napped grey cashmere, styled with matching trousers. Huge silky knits made, as if by magic, seemingly waterproof. And coats, cut — in the words of one Vogue writer — “to swathe you like a blanket almost to the ankle.” We’ll take ten, please.
Check out all the Zegna FW24 looks, accompanied by James Blake’s performance, below.
If you’ve enjoyed our coverage of Zegna’s latest menswear show, then consider reading some of our other trend stories, opinion pieces and dispatches from the world of fashion:
