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BECAUSE SOME THINGS ARE BETTER DONE ‘OLD SCHOOL’ The luxurious art of transforming wool into cloth may be tiresome. And most industries have made it into a science utilising top machinery but the procedure in Zegna mills remains the same. Of course, it is still a technology. The wool after getting refined a number of times becomes a cloth. In addition to the repeated combing and elimination of raw fibres, there are a few practices particularly followed for special materials. Later, each of the threads is delicately knotted together to transform the otherwise dull grey, boring black and white world of corporate menswear into a multitude of tasteful colours and patterns. Influencing variety in corporate menswear might have been a challenge but what proved to be a bigger challenge was to incorporate class into the world of casual menswear. Using imagination in creating fabrics, the brand has shrewdly diversified its offerings. ORIGIN Angelo Zegna, a watchmaker by trade, owned a wool mill and looms in the Alps of Piedmont, Italy. His son, Ermenegildo, 18 at that time, together with his brothers Edoardo and Mario, founded the company in 1910 in Trivero in the Biellese Alps utilising his father's looms and assets. He wanted these fabrics to be “the most beautiful in the world.” And indeed Ermenegildo succeeded like no other, as Zegna fabrics are considered exquisite and incomparable and amongst Italy’s most acclaimed exports. During the Interwar period, Zegna's business started to flourish. In the late 1920s, the Lanificio (wool mill) employed more than 700 workers, growing to more than 1,000 in the late 1930s. In 1938 the company began to export fabrics in the US, through its subsidiary Zegna Woollens Corporation established in New York City. In 1942, Ermenegildo's sons Aldo (born in 1920) and Angelo (born in 1924) entered the company, which was renamed Ermenegildo Zegna and Sons. In the mid-1950s, the company employed 1,400 workers. SECOND GENERATION Ermenegildo Zegna's sons, Aldo and Angelo, took over the company in the mid- 1960s Under their guidance, the label both expanded its business to ready-made suits and established new plants and distribution networks abroad. In 1968, the first factory producing sleeve-units and trousers was opened in Novara, followed by openings in Spain, Greece, and Switzerland. Sales and marketing departments were also established in France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. In 1972, Zegna launched its made-to-measure service called Su Misura. FROM MILL TO MILAN Zegna's attention to wool quality continued through the 1960s and 1970s, as the company established the Wool Awards in Australia (1963) and the Mohair Trophy in South Africa (1970). The international development strategy run by the Zegna brothers brought to the 15 VISION PLUS SE ASIA EDITION