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.”

Versace Embraces Greece and the Hashtag

It was high tech and high drama at Versace as the Greek key, which has long been one of the company’s signatures, appeared on a giant metallic structure at the back of the runway and as a pattern on sweaters, bags, shoes – and the Internet.

The key motif – make that #greek for a hashtag – was embedded in the quilted suede bags that Donatella Versace was showing off backstage. The symbol was also worked into the Perspex heels of boots that climbed up and away in patent leather and suede until they reached thigh high, under brief dresses.

There are people who might consider it discomforting to build a collection around a reference to a country that is currently in the news more for its debt problems than its ancient history, but this Greek key has long been a Versace symbol. And why would Donatella let a pan-European financial crisis change her fashion plans? 

Instead of slashing debt, her eyes were on slashing dresses, which were split up the side and set at an angle as if in a geometry lesson. In vivid primary shades of scarlet, grass green, and sunshine yellow, leather popped out on the runway, while the few quieter pieces included a compass-drawn cape or a rounded fur.

Since Donatella took her bow in a super-skinny pants suit, narrow trousers were also part of the collection. 
The game of keys was mildly challenged by a play on words: ‘Versace’ broken into a mix of letters, which is something I remember from Gianni’s ‘Circus’ collection from so many moons ago

Donatella did not have much new to say, but the collection was presented con brio. She herself seemed unsure as to what the Greek key hashtag would do or whether it was actually an emoji that could be added on to texts and messages to express yourself. I am tempted to say that it was all Greek to her. 

Donatella was adamant about the advantage to Versace of the new digital adventure, however. “I know in my mind and my heart that with the archive – I do not want to look at it any more,” she said. “Thank God for the archive. But now it is time to forget, let go, and think of the future.” 

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