Zegna closed the Milan Fashion Week schedule with a return to its roots, transporting guests (literally) 120km out of the city to Trivero, the region where founder Ermenegildo Zegna established their first mill in 1910, known as the Lanificio Zegna wool mill.

Over 100 years later the mill has become an oasis of sorts, hence the collection name, Oasi Zegna, with the area surrounding the mill transformed into a forest garden set within the Italian Alps – an environmental marvel created to give back to the community with the brand leading the area’s stewardship and serving as inspiration for the season. It was here guests gathered, walking through the sounds of mill machinery and billowing chimney smoke to take their seats for the rooftop show.

“What’s next for tailoring?” Asked Zegna’s creative director Alessandro Sartori in the press notes. If this show was anything to go by, it’s a fusion of work and activewear, with designs and fabrics that encourage lightness in every way. Past seasons have shown Sartori has a unique view on tailoring, with versatile designs free and unrestrictive –in tune with the modern man.

Earth tones and neutrals made up most of the collection, bar a few pops of yellow looks as loose silhouettes floated around models’ bodies, offering greater comfort and mobility. Tailored blazers were collarless while boardshorts are teamed with boxy t-shirts and bomber and kimono cut jackets. Sheer fabrics like technical silk, meshes and rubberised nylons are used on tops to expose skin beneath, shimmering under the Italian sun. Terry cloth was reworked into a suit with matching separates to create a wardrobe uniform while brush strokes decorated shirts in an expression of artistic freedom.