Old money, inherited code: ZEGNA’s emotional case for lineage for Fall/Winter 2026 collection

GC Picks from The ZEGNA Fall/Winter 2026–2027 show.

Courtesy of ZEGNA.

The Wardrobe as Heirloom

Artistic director Alessandro Sartori staged not a fashion show but an act of remembrance. Heirloom garments reimagined through modern craft. A family archive laid carefully before the audience. Models moving through muted carpeted silence, punctuated by gentle music and the occasional, deliberate flash of deep red — as if a cherished letter had slipped from the pages of an old journal.

For a gentleman who understands that a wardrobe is not assembled in a single season but accumulated across a lifetime, this collection spoke directly. From earthy Trofeo wool to deep brown Herringbone, these are not garments for the occasion. They are garments for the long run.

The Appointment

Alongside the collection came a considered strategic move: the appointment of William Chan as ZEGNA's first Asian global ambassador, following his runway debut — the first for any Asian celebrity at the house. Chan's appeal rests not in exuberance but in composure: that particular quality of a man who needs neither to assert nor explain himself. On the runway in a black cashmere coat layered over a peak lapel suit, he was noted across Chinese social media for bringing, as one observer put it, "an everyday old money ease to the runway." Rarely has such an observation been more precisely correct.

William Chan, ZEGNA's newly announced Global Brand Ambassador, walks the runway.

Courtesy of ZEGNA.

Disappearing Into Culture

What followed was an exercise in sophisticated restraint that deserves study. Capitalising on Chan's recent on-screen chemistry with actor Xu Yajun in the hit drama Love's Ambition, ZEGNA released a quietly filmed six-second clip — not through its own channels, but seeded into Weibo and Xiaohongshu in fragmented form. The footage depicted an intimate father-son moment: the passing of a suit jacket, its interior label embroidered simply with the words Lead by Legacy.

Speculation reached a fever pitch before Zegna revealed the film as its official campaign. Few viewers, in those early hours of speculation, even registered the brand. That, of course, was rather the point. Here was a house not interrupting culture but briefly dissolving into it — surfacing only once the emotional work had already been done.

This is not marketing. This is manners.

In this short film commissioned by ZEGNA, Global Ambassador William Chan and actor Xu Yajun reunite in Milan for a day. The story evokes the idea of generational transmission: how to carry on a legacy while also forging your own path. As the story unfolds, the two men discover that what unites them - ideals, values, and an appreciation for excellence - is stronger than what sets them apart. In a symbolic gesture, the father figure passes on his most treasured suit, altering the fit with the same precision. The stage is set for the next generation.

Courtesy of ZEGNA

The Long View, Again

ZEGNA opened its first Beijing store in 1991 and has spent three decades cultivating relationships rather than merely chasing transactions. The Lead by Legacy campaign is the most recent articulation of that patience. Family, heritage, continuity: the same values that animate the collection animate the storytelling.

In a market increasingly driven by emotional resonance, ZEGNA has understood that the most powerful luxury proposition is not aspiration but recognition. The recognition that quality endures. That legacy accumulates. That a well-made jacket, passed between generations, carries rather more meaning than any seasonal trend ever could.

That, my distinguished readers, is the "old money" argument — and ZEGNA makes it rather well.