The Zegna Guide: Triple Stitch, Oasi Cashmere and the Suits Behind the Name

Zegna is the Italian menswear house that began as a wool mill in Trivero, in the Alps of Piedmont, in 1910, and it still owns that mill, whose cloths go into its tailoring. The fabric is the best reason to buy it: suits in the house's own cloths, such as Trofeo, 15milmil15 and Centoventimila; knitwear in traceable Oasi cashmere; Oasi Lino linen for summer; and the Triple Stitch, the slip-on sneaker that has become the label's signature shoe. Since 2016 the collections have been led by artistic director Alessandro Sartori, who has moved Zegna away from strict formal suits toward softer tailoring and what the company calls luxury leisurewear. Below: a short history, including why the label now reads ZEGNA rather than Ermenegildo Zegna; the signature lines and what to buy from each; how Zegna sizing works; and where your money goes furthest.

Zegna at a glance

A short history of Zegna, from the Trivero mill to ZEGNA

Most of the dates below come from WWD's history of the company, published for its 115th year, and from the company's own annual reports.

• 1910: Ermenegildo Zegna establishes a woolen mill in Trivero. The company is now in its fourth generation of family ownership.
• 1930s: the founder promotes the Panoramica Zegna, a mountain road now numbered 232, and starts replanting the bare slopes above the mill; the Zegna Group says more than 500,000 trees have been planted there since the 1930s.
• 1938: he founds Zegna Woolens Corporation in New York to sell fabric to tailors abroad; the first Zegna logotype is registered the following year.
• 1940s: his sons Aldo and Angelo join the company; it is their generation that later takes Zegna from cloth into ready-to-wear and made-to-measure clothing.
• 1963: the Ermenegildo Zegna Wool Trophy is created to reward the best breeders of Australian superfine merino.
• 1980 to 1991: the first Zegna boutique opens in Paris, on Rue de la Paix, followed by Milan and New York in 1985; in 1991 Zegna becomes the first men's luxury brand with a boutique in China, in Beijing.
• 1993: the reforested land around the road, a freely accessible area of about 100 square kilometers, is given the name Oasi Zegna, according to the company's 2025 annual report.
• 2016: Alessandro Sartori returns as artistic director. Born in Trivero, he first joined Zegna as a designer in 1989, oversaw the launch of the Z Zegna line as its creative director from 2003, and spent five years as artistic director of Berluti.
• 2018: the group buys a majority stake in Thom Browne.
• 2020: Sartori redesigns the Triple Stitch sneaker.
• 2021: in the last quarter of the year the company announces that its menswear lines will become one brand, ZEGNA, under a new logo whose double stripe stands for Road 232. The logo first appears on an outdoor capsule collection in December, and on December 20 the group's shares begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
• 2022: from the Fall/Winter 2022 season, the Ermenegildo Zegna, Z Zegna and Ermenegildo Zegna XXX lines are replaced by the single ZEGNA brand, according to the company's 2021 annual report on Form 20-F.
• 2023: Tom Ford Fashion becomes part of the group, under a long-term license from The Estée Lauder Companies.
• 2025: the house runs its first tailoring campaign in five years and introduces the Torino suit, modeled on the founder's own (more in the suits section below).
• 2026: on January 1, Gildo Zegna, the founder's grandson and until then chairman and CEO, becomes executive chairman; Gianluca Tagliabue, previously the group's chief financial and operating officer, takes over as group CEO, a role shareholders confirmed that June; and Gildo's sons Edoardo and Angelo, the fourth generation, become co-CEOs of the ZEGNA brand, with Sartori still its artistic director, according to the group's leadership page.

Zegna or Ermenegildo Zegna?

They are the same house. The company announced the change in the last quarter of 2021, weeks before its New York listing: the menswear label dropped the founder's first name, and its new logo carries a double stripe inspired by Road 232, the road Ermenegildo Zegna built through the mountains above the mill. The logo first appeared on an outdoor capsule collection that December, and from the Fall/Winter 2022 season the house's three lines were folded into ZEGNA, which is why the company's later annual reports speak of "the 2022 rebranding." So both dates you will read are right: the name was announced in 2021 and in use across the collections from 2022. The parent company kept the full name and is still the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, and you will see both names on labels, depending on when a piece was made.

Why Zegna starts with the fabric

Zegna controls much of its own supply chain. Its wool mill, the Lanificio Ermenegildo Zegna, handles the whole process from choosing the raw fiber to finishing the cloth, and the group owns or holds stakes in specialist Italian mills: Tessitura di Novara for silk, Pettinatura di Verrone for combing superfine wool and cashmere, Dondi for jersey and Filati Biagioli Modesto for cashmere yarn, among others, according to the group's description of its supply chain. WWD adds that Zegna owns sheep farms in Australia. The company's annual report adds that ZEGNA makes more of its own product than any other brand in the group, with its own plants for knitwear, suits, outerwear and shirts. In practice, that means the cloth names on the label are worth learning, because they tell you what you are paying for.

Zegna Triple Stitch sneakers

The Triple Stitch is Zegna's trademarked signature sneaker. Sartori redesigned it in 2020, and it has since become the model for the brand's quiet, low-key luxury, WWD notes. Three crossed elastic bands run over the instep, which Zegna's own product copy says echo the hand-stitching on its tailored jackets, and they let the shoe slip on like a loafer. The soles are light and flexible, and the Secondskin versions use a glove-soft leather. The family now runs from white leather and suede to cashmere uppers and the Monte, which sits on a chunky Vibram sole for bad weather.

Fit note: Zegna's own product copy says the house uses UK sizing and recommends going down half a size from your usual size in the Triple Stitch. Many US retailers list the same shoes in converted US sizes, so check which system a listing uses before you apply the half-size rule.

• White Triple Stitch sneakers with a navy suit and a white knit polo, for tailoring without a tie.
• Suede Triple Stitch sneakers, dark jeans, a cashmere crewneck and an overshirt for the weekend.
• Monte sneakers, gray flannel trousers and a down jacket in winter.

See more low-top sneakers, and compare other houses in our guide to the best designer sneakers for men.

Oasi Cashmere and Zegna knitwear

Oasi Cashmere takes its name from the reserve above the mill. Product descriptions trace the fiber to Mongolia, call it traceable all the way to the finished garment, and say it is finished at the house's mill in the Italian Alps. The house knits it in several weights: fine crewnecks that sit under a jacket, and heavy cables and cardigans that replace one. Cashseta, a blend of 70 percent cashmere and 30 percent mulberry silk in the pieces we checked, makes a finer, smoother knit with a faint sheen that suits tailoring and evenings. Trofeo wool knits, in the 15milmil15 quality, are a light option for a warm office.

• Under a suit: a navy or charcoal Cashseta or Trofeo crewneck in place of a shirt and tie.
• Weekend: a beige Oasi cashmere crewneck, cream corduroys and brown suede loafers.
• Evening: a dark gray Cashseta turtleneck under a navy double-breasted jacket.

For how to judge any cashmere sweater, from gauge to ribbing, read our guide to the best cashmere sweaters for men, or browse all men's sweaters.

Zegna suits: the cloth, the build and what to buy

A Zegna suit is a fabric decision first. For a first suit, choose navy or charcoal in Trofeo, a sensible year-round choice; move to 15milmil15 or Centoventimila when you want a lighter, softer suit and are willing to treat it gently. Then read the build line on the listing, because Zegna states it plainly:

• Canvas construction, lined: a structured jacket with a floating canvas that shapes the chest, for business and formal events.
• Deconstructed, unlined: a soft jacket with little padding, for travel, summer and dressing down.
• Fused: the interlining is bonded to the cloth rather than floating, a simpler build Zegna uses on some deconstructed jackets.

The cut is the other decision. In 2025 Zegna introduced the Torino, a suit the company's 2025 annual report describes as carrying the features of the design the founder created with his own tailor: structured shoulders, wide lapels, rounded pockets and three-button cuffs. Listings call it Torino style. Choose it for a traditional, built-up suit, and a deconstructed jacket for the softer line Sartori is known for.

Many Zegna suits ship with unfinished sleeves and trouser hems, so budget for a tailor. For a closer fit, Su Misura, the house's made-to-measure service, covers suits as well as shoes, outerwear, shirts, trousers, knitwear, denim and jersey, and the same report puts its lead times at two weeks in some key stores and four to six weeks elsewhere. For black tie, the house cuts evening suits in wool and mohair with satin details; our guide to what men should wear to a wedding explains when to wear one.

More in men's suits.

Il Conte, Crossover and Elements: soft jackets and outerwear

Since the start of 2021 Sartori has pushed Zegna toward what WWD calls a new leisurewear silhouette, in which shirts became jackets and jackets became shirts. Three lines show it best:

• Il Conte is a deconstructed chore jacket with a stand collar and patch pockets, made in Oasi Cashmere for winter and Oasi Lino for summer. It is the most useful Zegna piece for a man who no longer wears a tie: it goes over a knit, with jeans or with flannels.
• Crossover jackets are cut from linen, wool and silk, or a wool-cashmere summer cloth, often unlined and with patch pockets, for tailoring that feels like a cardigan.
• Oasi Cashmere Elements outerwear treats cashmere to resist water, according to its product descriptions, and the Motorin blousons do the same job in technical microfiber.

Oasi Lino: Zegna in summer

Oasi Lino is Zegna's linen line, and the house's product copy describes its flax as European-grown and 100 percent certified traceable. The pieces run from shirts and polos to trousers, shorts and linen versions of the Il Conte jacket, mostly in earthy neutrals that combine with each other, so a whole summer wardrobe can come from the one line. Expect linen to crease, and choose the washed or crepe finishes if that bothers you. Our guide to the best linen shirts for men explains how to read linen and which collar to choose.

How Zegna fits

• Tailoring and knitwear are sized in Italian numbers, and US retailers often print both: an Italian 50 is listed as a US 40, though retailers' conversions for larger sizes can differ by a size, so check the chart on each listing. Letters after the number give the length: R for regular, S for short and L for long.
• Drop is the gap between the jacket size and the trouser size in a suit. Many Zegna suits are listed as drop 7; if your waist is much slimmer or fuller than your chest, plan on a tailor adjusting the trousers.
• Cut: listings name the fit, usually regular or slim, and leisure on some relaxed jackets.
• Shirts are sized by collar in centimeters or by letter; Italian 39 to 40 is roughly a US 15½.
• Sneakers: the house describes its sizing as UK and suggests half a size down, as noted above.
• Belts are listed in waist inches at some retailers and in centimeters (EU 90, 95, 100 and so on) at others; 100 centimeters is about 40 inches.

Is Zegna worth it? What to buy first

Zegna is worth it where the fabric shows. The cloth in a Zegna suit and the yarn in its knitwear are what separate it from cheaper tailoring, so those are the pieces that repay the price. Logo caps and small accessories cost less but show less of what Zegna does best. In order, we would buy:

1. A navy or charcoal suit in Trofeo, altered by a good tailor.
2. A fine crewneck in Cashseta or Oasi cashmere to wear under the suit jacket or on its own.
3. An Il Conte jacket, the piece that shows where Zegna is going.
4. Triple Stitch sneakers, if you like a slip-on.
5. Oasi Lino shirts and trousers for summer.

If you already own Zegna pieces, add them to your Vêtir closet and ask our AI stylist to build new outfits around them.

If you like Zegna, look at these houses too

• Thom Browne and Tom Ford belong to the same group but look nothing alike: Browne cuts short, narrow gray suits, and Tom Ford does sharp, glamorous tailoring and eveningwear.
• Loro Piana is the closest match for fiber-first luxury, especially cashmere and linen.
• Brunello Cucinelli shares the soft, neutral, dressed-down tailoring.
• Kiton and Brioni are the choice for more hand-finished tailoring from Naples and Rome.

How we chose

This guide covers Zegna only, and every piece in it was new stock when we checked. We built one edit for each signature line and read each listing for three things: the cloth name, the build line (canvas or fused, lined or unlined) and the size system. We looked at every product photograph and left out pieces whose pictures contradicted their listings, such as an Oasi Lino shirt sold as beige that photographs pale blue. Company history, ownership and leadership come from Zegna's annual reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, its group website and WWD; fiber and fit details that appear only in product copy are credited to it in the text.

Frequently asked questions

Is Zegna the same as Ermenegildo Zegna?

Yes. The company announced the single name ZEGNA in late 2021, weeks before its New York listing, and used it across its menswear from the Fall/Winter 2022 season. The parent company is still called the Ermenegildo Zegna Group.

What is Zegna Triple Stitch?

A slip-on sneaker with three crossed elastic bands over the instep. Alessandro Sartori redesigned it in 2020, and it comes in leather, suede, cashmere and a rugged Monte version.

Do Zegna sneakers run true to size?

Zegna's own descriptions say its Triple Stitch sizing is UK and suggest going down half a size from your usual size. Check whether a retailer has converted to US sizes before you order.

What is Oasi cashmere?

Zegna's cashmere line, named after its Oasi Zegna reserve in Piedmont. Product descriptions trace the fiber to Mongolia and call it traceable to the finished garment.

Who designs Zegna?

Alessandro Sartori, the brand's artistic director since June 2016. He first joined Zegna in 1989 and spent five years at Berluti before returning. Since January 2026 the brand has been run by co-CEOs Edoardo and Angelo Zegna, the family's fourth generation.

Are Zegna suits made in Italy?

Mostly, yes. The group makes knitwear, suits and formal jackets, and outerwear at its own plants in Italy, but it also makes jackets, suits and shirts at a plant in Mendrisio, Switzerland, according to its 2025 annual report, so some Zegna tailoring is labeled made in Switzerland. Read the label if the country matters to you.

Keep reading

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• The best loafers for men
• The best linen shirts for men
• Men's fall outfits
• The best designer sneakers for men