Italy Zegna From Textile To Men'S Hundred Years Of Business

Located in the north of Italy and under the the Alps, there is a remote town called Trivero. Although the United States is beautiful, it is not the vast coniferous forest and the red azalea in the wild, but the excellent woolen fabric manufacturing technology.

A gray building at the foot of the mountain is closely linked to the world's top fashion industry, which is far from the hustle and bustle of the town. The birthplace and center of the Ermenegildo Zegna brand is located in the wool factory.

This year, the fabric of Italy men's wear brand has ushered in the 100th anniversary celebration.

According to statistics, more than 93% of Italy's enterprises are family business models, and the five generation of Zegna has undoubtedly been the best among them.

Unlike other Italy brands, there will be more and more turmoil of succession. Zegna's descendants carry out their fashion dream for a hundred years with a startling and unanimous belief, and extend their fashion to the whole world.

Fabric Centenary

To celebrate its centenary, a brand historical exhibition called "textile factory to taste factory" opened recently in Zegna in Milan.

To this day, no matter how sophisticated the tailoring of men's clothing is and how the fabric weave technology is high, Zegna still insists on making exquisite handwork from ancient times.

In its stronghold Trivero, Australia, South Africa and Mongolia, the best quality wool has gathered across the ocean to form the cornerstone of Zegna.

In this exhibition, the trophy of a wool selection competition organized by Zegna is exhibited. The winners of the annual award can get gold with wool and other heavy metals. Because of the high interest, the standard of Australian famous wool producing area is also constantly improving year after year.

These first-rate woolen materials are collected and cleaned in Trivero factories, cleaned, combed, dyed, and knitted. In this complicated and lengthy production process, advanced computer technology will also take part, but the main steps will still be completed by manual operation for hundreds of years, especially the screening procedures, which still rely on the experience and vision of professionals.

The exhibition's planner, Zegna's global image director Anna Zegna, sighed, "I was very interested in how many hands were involved in the production process of a Zegna suit from the beginning to the finished product. The answer is a total of 538 pairs."

In addition to the consistent pursuit of quality, Zegna has spared no effort in the renovation of fabrics.

Family Centenary

As a world-renowned brand, until now, Zegna's business model still maintains an ancient hereditary system, which is undoubtedly a test for the cohesion of the Zegna family.

But surprisingly, every successor of the Zegna family has done its duty conscientiously.

The brand centred dinner in June invited all the employees in the past and present to Zegna. Even 86 year old honorary director and Zegna second generation successor Angelo Zegna also appeared at the venue to celebrate the 100th anniversary cut cake, baked by the chef of the interior dining hall of the Trivero manufacturing plant.

One important thing about the success of Zegna is that its brand planning has taken shape since the early days of Zegna.

When the founder, Ermenegildo Zegna, took over his father's establishment of a small wool processing plant in Trivero as an unidentified son, he set the goal of creating the top quality men's fabric by selecting the best wool, introducing the latest technology and actively promoting the brand.

In the process of brand development, he built his own schools, hospitals, cinemas and swimming pools for his employees in an impoverished town, and made vigorous efforts in afforestation, road repair and planting azaleas, making it a modern paradise.

Now, the regional pformation model based on Trivero has been refined into Zegna oasis plan by its descendants, and has begun to be promoted worldwide.

In terms of brand development, as early as the 30s of last century, Ermenegildo Zegna went through two weeks' sea voyage to New York, and sold the Italian exquisite craftsmanship of Zegna to the Americans, making the first step towards the global fashion industry.

And his descendants inherited the ambition and vision of Ermenegildo Zegna as fashion forerunner. Now Zegna President Gildo Zegna and his brother PaoloZegna have foresight to see the great business opportunities in the Far East. In 1991, they set foot in China's unopened new luxury market, opened the first store in China at The Peninsula Beijing Hotel, and then expanded their fashion in Asia to the north to Mongolia to India.

On how to expand the global brand business with the traditional mode of family management, the current president GildoZegna has shared a unique Zegna standard. First of all, as a descendant of the Zegna family, the respect for the family industry is the first. Secondly, every member of Zegna starts to accept open education from her childhood, speaking English and University, and before she formally participates in the brand operation of Zegna, she must have more than three years of work experience of other companies. Besides, Zegna people are more important to have a positive attitude towards the future and put the blueprint into reality.

Men's hundred years {page_break}

As men's wear

In 1930s, Hollywood stars began to influence the global trend of fashion. For this reason, Ermenegildo Zegna began to expand its business to the United States.

And this brand history exhibition specially displayed the sports men's clothing that Zegna first promoted in the 70s of last century, and the improved and innovative version after the past years, which is nothing less than a pocket deduction of the leisure men's clothing evolution in the past 40 years.

The biggest change of Zegna brand in recent years is not only the rapid expansion of the global map, but also the obvious trend of brand younger customers. Younger and more casual styles occupy the leading position.

In 1998, Zegna began to introduce non formal clothing in Asia. Now the sales volume in this field has accounted for more than half of the total sales volume of the brand.

Zegna's total sales in 2009 amounted to US $988 million, up 8 percentage points from 2008, and this year's sales situation still has room for improvement.

This also proves that under the pressure of depression, men's clothing has better resistance than women's clothing, and the strength of recovery and rebound is stronger.