October 5, 2015: Celebrating its March 2015 Ginza Global store opening, Ermenegildo Zegna recently launched a directional and dedicated capsule collection. Stefano Pilati, Ermenegildo Zegna Couture Head of Design, explored a cross-cultural angle on contemporary elegance with this special project that unites different worlds and far-stretching crafts. The initiative, titled “Made in Japan”, enhances the Japanese heritage in fabric development and fashion-making, merging a unique savoir faire with Italian design in an impactful statement of borderless style.
Mr Pilati combined the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture ethos with traditional Japanese know-how by creating an exclusive Limited Edition Collection made in Japan, by local artisans, using Japanese fabrics and leathers. This one-off, trans-seasonal wardrobe, which features a dedicated label and available in two locations – Ginza and Osaka – has been designed for the new generation of successful, self-confident yet quiet leaders. Their nonchalant sophistication, a balance of broken suits, formalized sportswear and denim, matches their soft entrepreneurial approach; their ease mirrors the fluidity of their careers.
Five charismatic personalities have been chosen for the project, their portraits taken by renowned contemporary photographer Takashi Homma, who, exclusively for Zegna, produced a lively photographic document and a video that visually narrates the “Made in Japan” idea from multiple perspectives. The protagonists of these portraits are opinion leaders, each coming from a different field: Ryo Kase is the actor and Shohei Shigematsu the architect; awarded with two Michelin stars, Zaiyu Hasegawa is the chef, while Kaie Murakami is the creative director and Keiichiro Shibuya the composer and musician. Their influential vision of aesthetics, melded with an entrepreneurial sensibility and precise world view, represents a cross-section of contemporary masculinity, at once local yet eminently global.
