Zegna x The Elder Statesman sees two cashmere experts unite on California-infused collection

Several years in the making, Zegna x The Elder Statesman sees two cashmere titans unite on a colourful new collection that combines the former’s unrivalled expertise with the latter’s laid-back California-inflected cool. ‘Alessandro Sartori’s impeccable reset of the masculine wardrobe is transfigured by The Elder Statesman’s Californian sense of luxury with levity,’ said a statement from the Italian house.

Teased at Milan Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2023 earlier this year and now revealed in full during Paris Fashion Week A/W 2023, the collaboration marks the latest chapter in Zegna’s Oasi Cashmere initiative, which commits to making its entire cashmere output 100 per cent traceable by 2024 (it takes its name from the Oasi Zegna nature park, the location of Zegna’s very first mill in the Italian Alps). 

Zegna x The Elder Statesman

‘Dialogues like this allow us to add new layers to our world, finding other expressions to Oasi Cashmere,’ says Sartori, Zegna’s creative director. ‘We worked on this collection completely together, merging our shapes with The Elder Statesman’s distinctive colours and all-pervading spontaneity. It’s the very idea of cross-pollination, which is what happens in Oasi Zegna as a natural organism and can be turned into a business and creative model which allows us to reach out a new audience’.

Indeed, more than just a flash-in-the-pan collaboration, the Ermenegildo Zegna Group Made in Italy Luxury Platform – which includes historic mills and producers Bonotto, Dondi, Filati Biagioli Modesto, Lanificio Zegna and Tessitura Ubertino – will work with The Elder Statesman’s own team of knitters, hand-dyers and embroiders in Los Angeles, providing them with fabrics and yarns from the group.

‘At the origin of this partnership are two companies who value the way things are made,’ adds Greg Chait, founder and CEO of The Elder Statesman. ‘In reality, we sometimes feel like Zegnas eccentric cousins who set up shop in Los Angeles, bringing a centuries-old craft to the new world. This partnership feels like a homecoming, and after two and a half years of deep and meaningful discussions with Zegna, our co-designed collection is a symptom of something much larger: a recognition of quality, craft, and deep mutual respect.’

The collection itself is a merging of the two brand’s approaches: classic Zegna styles are reimagined here in the bold colours and prints for which The Elder Statesman is known (first founded 2007, its cashmere designs draw inspiration from nonchalant Californian style tropes). ‘Everything is soft, in both shape and spirit,’ says Zegna of the collection, which features elements of plaid (reminiscent of ’sun-bleached flannels’), cashmere button-downs, and a fabric that evokes worn-in corduroys. Colours span bold shades of lilac, green, yellow and vicuna.

The collection will arrive in Zegna stores globally from September 2023, as well as The Elder Statesman retail channels and selected partners worldwide.

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