Andrew Garfield, Chris Pine And Raw, Natural Beauty At Zegna Men's Spring/Summer 2024
Light linens bring new meaning to masculinity
An ongoing conversation in menswear collections of today pins the idea of masculinity as an abstract concept, reframing the male ego as an invention rather than an absolute. And while designers continue to reinterpret masculinity in a myriad of ways, softening and stretching our image of what an everyday man's wardrobe should look like, few have taken that directive as literally as Alessandro Sartori. L'Oasi di Lino, the Zegna creative director's latest menswear collection, is pretty much what you'd imagine a European gentleman would be wearing in June in Italy: little scarves, casual button-downs, loose, laid-back trousers. All made of linen, of course. Some of the lightest, softest material known to man.
The collection coincidentally calls back to the 2017 sleeper hit Call Me By Your Name, a tender love story which also takes place in Northern Italy, where the Italian luxury house originates. It's a meditation on love and labour, which Sartori captures beautifully in the little details: carefully-cinched pleats here and there, camp collars, and supple leather jackets which flatter the figure. Loose ends fall perfectly into place. Casually-draped clothes fit comfortably, but also confidently. Just as in the film, softness is an overarching feeling, a sentiment which seeps through the screen and in this case, onto the runway - always present but never overbearing. (Shades of peach throughout the collection may also remind viewers of one particular scene.)
Conveniently, the other cultural touchstone in the conversation today is the phenomenon that is quiet luxury. The setting of the Men's Spring/Summer 2024 show was anything but quiet; a testament to Zegna's earliest beginnings as a nature-led brand known for its high-quality fabrics, the House took over the busy Piazza San Fedele pedestrian square in the middle of a Monday, staging its runway in the middle of over 190 bales of raw linen. But the clothes effortlessly showed off the fine craftsmanship which is a core tenet of the quiet luxury trend. The quiet confidence of a gentleman who is both sensitive and strong, who values the authenticity of raw materials, who finds beauty in the natural.
Scroll ahead to see all the looks from the Zegna Men's Spring/Summer 2024 collection.
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