The backdrop—a black-and-white film that tracked vertiginously through an abandoned industrial site—established a film-noir tone that made a perfect complement to Alessandro Sartori s new collection for Z Zegna. In their boxy jackets and pleated, tapered pants, his men might have peopled Raymond Chandler s mean streets. Couple that dark, filmic style with Zegna s futuristic fabric technology and you ve got… um… future noir?
Like watching characters of the past in a modern setting," said Sartori. He pointed to the "icon" of the collection, a leather jacket in which the skin had been digitally needle-punched to a cashmere flannel lining. With no need for glue or stitching, the process loaned a seamless, almost neoprene feel to leather that will now never grow old. It also guaranteed a silhouette with a superhero bulk, narrow at the waist, wide at the shoulders. Everything the modern night crawler would crave.
One remarkable thing about Zegna s tech is its subtlety. Sartori was excited by the new three-piece camel suit: two jackets layered over a pair of pants. The top jacket was waterproofed, though you d only know it when the hard rain fell. Ultimately, though, all the fabric research in the world won t get you anywhere if you re not making clothes that a man would want to wear, which is where Sartori comes in. His designs have a strong, broad-shouldered, masculine line in a straightforward palette of gray, loden, and camel. The seduction was in the details: the way a blouson sat on the waist, the pleat of a pant, the plaid, the perfectly judged proportions. And those futuristic leathers… the essence of Gattaca or Caprica on a catwalk.
