Ermenegildo Zegna sells Agnona, bids farewell to Simon Holloway

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Aug 27, 2020

Having acquired American fashion label Thom Browne in 2018, Ermenegildo Zegna is once again reworking its portfolio. The Italian manufacturer and retailer of luxury menswear has sold Agnona, its women's ready-to-wear brand specialised in knitwear. The company has nonetheless maintained a 30% minority stake in the label, which isn't exactly leaving the family circle.

"The deal, which represents a new path for the brand's future development, guarantees the continuity of its operations, as Agnona is staying in the family," said the Piedmontese group in a release published at the start of August. Ermenegildo Zegna Holditalia sold 70% of the label to Roberto and Stefano Aimone, explained the company, without providing further details about the value of the transaction.

The brand's new owners are the husband and son, respectively, of Laura Zegna, who represents the third generation of the family to lead the company. Sister of Paolo Zegna, the group´s current president, Laura is the daughter of Aldo Zegna, who, alongside his brother Angelo, was the architect of the company's ascension in the 1960s, when they decided to expand its activities beyond fabric manufacturing to the production of menswear.

Her husband Roberto Aimone has already been at the helm of Agnona for a while, while son Stefano has worked as a designer for a range of different luxury labels, including the group's former youth line, Z Zegna. The duo founded Aimone, a high-end menswear brand specialised in leather, in 2015. Father and son will now be taking over as Agnona's new executive president and creative director, respectively.
 
The brand's current CEO Alessandra Carra, who has led the label for the last six years, "will support the Aimone family until Stefano also assumes the role of CEO," explained Ermenegildo Zegna. As for Simon Holloway, the Anglo-American designer who has held the role of creative director at the brand since 2015, when he succeeded Stefano Pilati, he is leaving the company to focus on "new professional challenges."

Since acquiring the historic manufacturer Laneri Agnona, a specialist in women's knitwear, in 1999, the Zegna group has never really succeeded in relaunching the brand, which was founded in 1953 and has been hosting runway shows in Milan since September 2018. Preserving the timeless elegance of the label, Holloway showed men's pieces for the brand for the first time in February of this year – quite the novelty, as Agnona stopped producing menswear 20 years ago.