Ermenegildo Zegna Finds Fashion

During fashion week I was asked to leave a room so that the fashion editor of the FT could discuss "breaking news" with a London-based PR. I can only assume that this earth-shattering news is what I read on WGSN today (take your seats, ladies and gentlemen): that suit maker Ermenegildo Zegna has decided to forgo the staid, but elegant Pitti Uomo trade show (with which they've had a 30-year association) in Florence in favor of the men's wear shows in Milan. Woah! What could it possibly mean? They say they their focus has shifted from "production" to "customer." What that really means is that Zegna wants to shake off the shackles of the tailoring moniker and become known as a fashion brand. Why? Heat, of course, and profit margins. Zegna already makes the suits for Gucci and Tom Ford, so they know how a designer name can add points to a price tag. There is an Ermenegildo Zegna -- he's the company's chairman and a friend of Domenico De Sole, the ex-Gucci C.E.O. who set up Tom Ford with Tom Ford -- so don't expect them to announce the addition of a big name designer. But I have heard that they are talking to design consultants. Whatever the case, buy your Zegna suits now. The price is surely about to shoot up.