zegna aw26 | a family closet

“Everything at Zegna starts from fabric; in this wardrobe, that foundation is combined with an intense process of testing, styling, wearing and improving garments and silhouettes, worked one-to-one on each model, time after time.”

This season, Alessandro Sartori wants you to look like you’ve inherited the best closet in Italy. For Zegna’s Autumn/Winter 2026 collection, the creative director bypassed the usual mood boards and went straight for the family archives. The show itself was a literal journey into the family’s wardrobe, transporting the audience directly into it with authentic items from Gildo and Paolo Zegna. 

The emotional anchor of the set was the Abito N.1: the very first Zegna suit, tailored in the 1930s for Count Ermenegildo Zegna. Resting behind glass like a holy grail of menswear, this Australian wool relic set the tone for the entire collection. Sartori calls these pieces a “chosen skin,” clothing that eventually takes the shape of the life lived inside it.

 

The silhouette this season has a wonderful, unforced ease to it. We’re seeing coats that stretch a little longer and trousers that fall generously from high, cinched waists. The tailoring feels unsettled in the best way possible; double-breasted jackets have shed their boardroom stiffness, with some featuring clever, multi-way closures and others boasting double lapels or collars. It’s an unconstrained attitude that encourages the wearer to play with the garment, making the styling feel more personal.

As always with Zegna, the fabric is the lead actor. The legendary Trofeo wool, a house staple since 1965, has been reimagined through printed flannels and soft panno finishes that feel incredibly current. The textures are ridiculously tangible, ranging from washed double cashmere and compact mohair gabardine to the buttery softness of Oasi Cashmere. Even the denim has been given a seat at the high table, treated with enough intention to sit seamlessly alongside a mohair blazer.

The palette feels and looks pulled from a high-altitude landscape: creamy alpine tones, earthy browns like torba and mogano and deep forest greens, all punctuated by cool, sharp accents of zaffiro and giada. Accessories follow a similar logic of functionality, with suede slippers, unstructured duffel bags and felt-lined rain hats that look built for real-world use.

Zegna Autumn/Winter 2026 is a collection that refuses to rush. In Sartori’s family closet, clothes age, but they also accumulate meaning. It is a wardrobe that values the time it takes to weave a cloth, the time it takes to refine a shoulder and, most importantly, the years spent wearing a piece into its own unique shape.

Discover the Zegna Autumn/Winter 26 collection here.

photography. courtesy of Zegna
words. Gennaro Costanzo