A fantastical closet set the scene for Zegna FW26, stocked with real, personal pieces from Gildo and Paolo Zegna – garments inherited from previous generations. It was immaculately tidy – what we all aspire to. At its heart sat ABITO N.1, the first suit made for Count Ermenegildo Zegna in the 1930s, preserved like an antiquity, anchoring the collection in lineage and craft. This idea of a family wardrobe, carefully kept and passed on, inspired Alessandro Sartori’s FW26 collection: ”I am after the sense of wonder that happens when one finds a piece that was owned by one’s father, grandfather, uncle,” said the designer in the show notes.

Emerging from the abstract closet, the silhouettes were long, loose and totally at ease. Coats and jackets were elongated and square-shouldered as trousers flowed from high, cinched waists. Classic codes were subtly disrupted: double-breasted jackets were reduced or re-engineered – some with a lowered button fastening, one with a sleek kimono-style belt – while double lapels, layered collars and fluid overshirts encouraged adaptability with modern lines.

As is the Zegna way, texture did much of the talking. Tactile wools – including the house’s iconic Trofeo wool – cashmeres and tweeds carried a sense of wear and memory, joined by a quarter-zip leather bomber, printed flannels and technical silk gabardine, bridging tradition and innovation. Less hoarder, more inheritance, these were clothes designed to endure, evolve and be passed down.