Agnona: Baby Steps Forward

With a spanking new Milan premises and a full collection of clothes, shoes, and bags, Agnona is moving forward as a little cousin of the vast Zegna menswear company.

Designer Stefano Pilati is striding forward to build a collection that includes fine winter coats, capes with fringing, and double-face cashmere. And that’s not including a wide range of dresses from draped shapes to slick satin

But Pilati is still waiting to show the women’s clothes on the runway, after successfully creating Zegna’s menswear. 
I asked him why no fashion shows and when things might change. “With a fashion show, you miss the glory of it,” he said. “But now I have started to really enjoy and appreciate the fact that I have the luxury of taking my time, to construct the structure around it, to bring a great team in, and then when I feel ready, which may be soon, to do a fashion show.” But, he continued, “I will also question how the fashion show will be, because maybe I will find a new format for it. Apparently people like very much to touch the clothes, and to have this kind of proximity.”

“The reality is that the kind of fashion that I love is to see clothes in movement. I don’t work with themes or anything; it is more about the research on cuts and also the allure. That is what I miss and why I will probably think of a way to show it.”

Zegna CEO Gildo Zegna has been exceptionally patient in allowing Pilati’s slow steps forward, but he believes that the investment in a new Agnona headquarters, while using the Zegna mill for woollen products, is the path for the future. The executive also plans for an expansion of wholly-owned stores while keeping the mainly wholesale business.

Would he like to see Agnona on the runway? “This is already an enormous step,” Gildo says, “and a show is food for thought.”