STYLE Edit: How the finest fabrics and exquisite tailoring define Ermenegildo Zegna’s Platinum Collection
Soft, fine and bright, these fabrics offer outstanding performance and superior comfort, and the suits are impeccably tailored, sumptuous to the touch and sharp to the eye
Italy’s textile industry has been known for producing the world’s finest fabrics for centuries and Ermenegildo Zegna is no exception. The Italian luxury fashion house is reaping the benefit of cooperating with sheep farmers for more than 50 years. The long relationship has yielded the superfine wools Zegna uses in its Platinum Collection range of made-to-measure men’s clothing.
The finest and softest sheep’s wool is merino, which comes from merino sheep. In 1963, Zegna introduced its own “wool trophy” into the exclusive partnership it had with selected Australian merino farmers, who were then already producing the best wool. The aim was to encourage them to breed increasingly elite flocks.
Merino wool is better because its fibres are finer. The best grade is “ultrafine”, which has fibres of 15.5 microns or less in diameter. Amazingly, Zegna can now use merino wool with fibres of only 12 microns and 13 microns in diameter (finer than vicuna or cashmere) to weave the 12 Mil Mil 12 and 13 Mil Mil 13 cloth that is then cut for its Platinum Collection.
Soft, fine and bright, these fabrics offer outstanding performance and superior comfort. Impeccably tailored, suits are sumptuous to the touch and sharp to the eye. And merino’s long fibres make for strength and elasticity. Even after prolonged crumpling, the garment springs back into shape.
To complement fine merino, Platinum Collection shirts are crafted from prestigious cottons including Giza 45, Giza 87, Sea Island and 330/3. The gloss and natural resilience of these fine strains come from the length, purity and uniformity of their fibres.
Silky to the touch, Platinum shirts are singled out by rich luxurious detailing, including hand-sewn Australian mother-of-pearl buttons, special finishings and a central seam on the yoke to facilitate movement and wearability.
Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter .