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︎︎︎ Ermenegildo Zegna for Financial Times 

“Ermenegildo Zegna, the Italian men’s luxury group, is hoping to lure a new generation of millennial-minded businessmen for whom the suit and tie risk becoming outdated, with the launch of a “wash and go” luxury merino wool suit this month. The move by Italy’s Zegna, a fourth-generation family firm, underlines the sweeping changes roiling the luxury goods industry. Casual wear has become the fastest-growing luxury segment as tech savvy consumers want a high-end iteration of the “hoodie and sneakers look” favoured by tech entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley to China. Gildo Zegna, chief executive and grandson of the company’s founder, says it is “scary how many men don’t wear a tie any more”.
Mr Zegna, impeccably turned out in two-piece suit, admits he “tried to defend tie because I’m a more formal guy”, adding: “But I see that to many businessmen and well-off guys it’s an impediment, so we have to live with that. And I think the risk is that the suit becomes another kind of impediment.” The response of Mr Zegna, who together with his sister Anna and cousin Paolo run Zegna, has been to “ reinvent ourselves in the casualisation world”. After one year of falling sales in 2016, which took group revenues to just under €1.2bn, this year the company is back to positive healthy growth again, Mr Zegna says.” from the article by Rachel Sanderson on The Financial Times, November 19 2017