STYLE Edit: Why Ermenegildo Zegna’s exhibition showcases a pile of rags among gorgeous artworks

Italian fashion house Zegna’s symbiotic code of ethics, business and aesthetics manifests in the installation Metamorfosi, which offers insights into ‘leaving a legacy for our fathers’
The philanthropic activities of the Zegna family are as praiseworthy as their fashion collections. The Zegna family – and the Italian luxury fashion house under its name – have preserved the Zegna legacy for over four generations in high fashion and social consciousness. This goes back to founder Ermenegildo Zegna’s symbiotic code of “ethics, business and aesthetics”.

In the adjacent Zegna Wool Mill dating back to the 1930s, 10 mobile panels titled L’Arte della Lana (The Art of Wool), considered Ettore’s most important cycle of paintings, will be on show.

Contemporary artist and “son” of the Padre e Figlio project, Michelangelo Pistoletto, offers the large-scale installation Metamorfosi, which is three metres high. It uses rags and used clothes divided by a double-sided mirror and symbolises the reappropriation of his father’s place of birth.
Video dialogues between the curator of the exhibition, Alberto Fiz, and president Anna Zegna, will offer insights on “leaving a legacy for our fathers”, something Zegna and Pistoletto know all too well.
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