April 15, 2014 |
Z ZEGNA: THE LAYERS
Photographer Jason Lloyd-Evans
Before we begin, let me just say that Vincent and I are particularly taken by the little clutch-type bags with wrist ties that were shown at the Z Zegna spring/summer show. We felt they would work nicely during nights out when we’ve the tendency to pretty much dispose of our own possessions. If said possessions are attached to the wrist then they cannot be lost, unless one’s hand were chopped off. Which is, quite frankly, a very unlikely scenario. We have never stolen anything from a mobster. We don’t know any mobsters and, having watched Casino, The Godfather and Goodfellas, we know that the chopping-off of hands is something that mobsters do when you cross them. They also leave horse parts in your bed. The bag also looks very nice when rolled up like a newspaper and tucked under the arm. Especially when worn with navy, as it is here. In fact, we’re rather taken with the whole ensemble, the ease of it, the looser trouser that tapers towards the ankle with the sharp crease, and the tunic top with the bib that overlaps, and the longer dress cuffs that have the appearance of not having been folded back on themselves. It looks almost as though the boy is wearing pyjamas. In fact, most of the looks in the collection have a sort of pyjama vibe about them. Apparently, it was all about mixing up daywear with nightwear. Tuxedo jackets with loose pyjama-type trousers and untucked shirt-tails peeking out beneath jackets, trailing behind the boys as they walked down the runway. The sandals, made of delicate leather straps, gave it a sort of bohemian, “Moroccan opium den in the 1960s” feel. Well, they did to me. When one is in an opium haze one doesn’t, I assume, pay much attention to dressing appropriately for certain occasions, which would explain the louche, slightly rumpled yet elegant look of the clothes. You can imagine that these clothes would be quite comfortable to wear while riding a camel, for example. After much extensive Googling we have discovered that Paul Surridge, Z Zegna’s creative director, was inspired by the work of the abstract artist Sol LeWitt, especially his graphic wall drawings. Apparently Surridge once wanted to be an architect and so appreciates a mathematical approach to things. He likes, we read somewhere, “mathematical drawings of geometrical patterns”. He wanted to create new dimensions and garments with a 3-D feel, something he achieved using textured fabrics, all woven and untreated, creating his own wool, mohair and taffeta blends and cottons. We also read that he likes to use “collage images for references, it makes the collection less one-track minded”. The collage idea is something that he later says he brought into the collection via the medium of texture and layers. I like to think that this would be nice to the touch. You’ll never know what to expect next, what your hand will brush against. Sort of like a haunted house on Hallowe’en.
By Natalie Dembinska
