The name of Ermenegildo Zegna is synonymous with ‘the most beautiful fabrics in the world’ – and now, the house of Zegna has expanded to include scents as luxurious and sought-after as the fashions. Setting the masculine fragrance world abuzz…
The house of Ermenegildo Zegna was founded in 1910, when Ermenegildo – then aged just 18 – set up the Lanificio Zegna mill, in Northern Italy. Standing in the Alpine foothills of Trivero, Zegna fabrics are still produced there and remain one of Italy’s most acclaimed luxury exports.
A man ahead of his time, Zegna was also passionate about social change and environmental protection. By 1932 he’d built a meeting hall, library, gym, cinema and public swimming pool for the use of workers. Just a few years later, he’d added a medical centre and nursery school, also planting thousands of trees and building the Panoramica Zegna – a 14 kilometre road linking Trivero and Bielmonte, a popular tourist resort – ensuring the future livelihood of the town and their business. Today, the Ermenegildo Zegna Group has over 500 shops with 7,000 employees worldwide – and it’s still very much family-run.
Zegna’s luxury-focused ethos demanded that only the best quality materials be sourced, with a focus on innovation – a mantra Zegna keenly applied to the creation of their fragrances. These are curated within several collections, each following a fragrant theme. In 2012, Essenze by Ermenegildo Zegna introduced us to an initial five fragrances (a range that has since expanded), focused around on a central ingredient of Calabrian bergamot – the harvest of which Zegna control, thereby ensuring a fully traceable and top-quality end product.
The collection uses supporting ingredients to showcase the myriad ways this fragrant material can be used – so in Javanese Patchouli, the bergamot brings luminescence to the rich spice and rugged woodiness of the blend; Florentine Iris balances bergamot against three differing iris notes, with violet, jasmine and musk making for an intriguingly masculine take on a floral. Sicilian Mandarin, meanwhile, harnesses mouth-watering citrus juiciness against an invigorating backdrop of spearmint and moss.
2017’s Elements of Man: The Life Collection (see above) took the fragrances in a new direction, exploring five powerful virtues of character captured in scent. Emblazoned with evocative names, holding juices just as provocative, this collection has equally wowed fragrance experts. Integrity infuses wild berries and verdant greenery with herbaceous sage and spices; then Passion melds rum and cognac with the warmth of saffron-spiked amber. Strength marries rich tobacco and smoked pine with decadently dark vanilla, as Talent zings with pepper-flecked yuzu, black tea and cedar-swirled patchouli, while Wisdom squeezes luscious lemons, orange and mandarin with aromatic flashes of verbena and cool lavender on a husky, musky base.
Whichever collection captures your interest, we urge you to explore this heritage-rich and exemplary range of fragrances. Created by some of the world’s most respected ‘noses’ – Jacques Cavallier, Alberto Morillas, Pierre Negrin and Daniella Andrier, to name a few of the perfume luminaries who’ve created for this brand.
No wonder the name of Ermenegildo Zegna continues to thrive, with such Talent, Passion and Intergrity at the helm…
