For the first time in its 115-year history, Zegna left Italy to present its Summer 2026 collection abroad. The Dubai Opera was transformed into “Villa Zegna,” complete with native trees and a dune-colored runway. The show opened with a live piano performance by Zegna brand ambassador James Blake, which set an atmospheric, quiet tone that carried through the collection.
Titled Oasis, the show was designed by artistic director Alessandro Sartori. He took inspiration from Oasi Zegna, the brand’s ecological reserve in the Italian Alps, founded in the 1930s by Ermenegildo Zegna. Sartori took the brand’s longstanding connection to nature and translated it into Dubai’s arid landscape. The collection offered menswear that was softened by time, heat, and travel.
A light gray Prince of Wales blazer with crinkled trousers and a shirt slung at the waist opened the show. What followed was a palette of olive greens, mauve pinks, and burnt sienna hues—rendered in sun-faded, worn-in textures. Sartori leaned into a relaxed silhouette: lightweight jackets, tailored shorts, pajama-striped suiting, summer knits, and Nehru shirts layered like light outerwear.
Models walked barefoot and held slipper-like loafers in hand, while jackets were tied at the waist. This emphasized a polished kind of nonchalance.
Zegna’s SS26 runway was its own oasis; an escape from the rigidity of traditional men’s tailoring. It was a softer, more approachable vision of luxury made for life in motion.
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