Alessandro Sartori is an Italian fashion designer, and the artistic director of Italian brand Zegna. Previously, he was creative director of Z Zegna and artistic director of Berluti.

Alessandro Sartori
Born (1966-09-14) September 14, 1966 (age 58)
Biella, Italy
OccupationFashion designer
Known forArtistic Director for Ermenegildo Zegna

Early life

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Sartori received a degree in textile engineering in Biella, Italy, followed by a degree in fashion design in Milan in 1989.[1]

Career

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Zegna, 1989–2011

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In 1989, Sartori began his career at Zegna and worked as a men’s wear designer for many years.[2]

In 2003, Sartori became creative director of the newly created "Z Zegna" at Ermenegildo Zegna. He presented the Z Zegna first runway show in New York City in February 2007.[3] Z Zegna successfully appeared at five New York Fashion Weeks, and then moved to Milan starting in June 2009.

Berluti, 2011–2016

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On 1 July 2011 Sartori was appointed as artistic director at Berluti with the aim of creating a luxury total wardrobe.[4]

On January 20, 2012 Sartori unveiled his first collection at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, with footwear occupying rows of chairs lined up as if for a fashion show. Women's Wear Daily stated "It was an impressive debut." "Sartori’s collection was worn by a multigenerational cast of models in vignettes that telegraphed the Berluti lifestyle: playing chess in the library of a country chateau; having cocktails in a groovy apartment; gathering with friends under a full moon for a midnight shoe-polishing party, with Dom Pérignon as the shining agent (something serious Berluti devotees actually do)."[5]

Sartori's last collection for Berluti, presented during Paris Menswear Fashion Week, on January 22, 2016 was viewed as his best collection for the brand; Luke Leitch, on Vogue.com wrote: "This collection contained almost as many potential angles to elucidate excellence in menswear as there were grains of volcanic sand on the runway".[6]

On February 1, 2016 Women's Wear Daily confirmed the rumors about Sartori leaving Berluti. [7][8][9]

Zegna, 2016–present

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On February 5, 2016 Ermenegildo Zegna Group announced that Sartori was appointed artistic director with responsibility across all Zegna brands and all creative functions. [10] [11] Sartori officially joined the Ermenegildo Zegna Group in June 2016. His first fashion show was the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture Autumn/Winter 2017 collection at HangarBicocca.[12] In 2019 Sartori chose wide, urban spaces in Milan – such as Stazione Centrale and former production plant Area Falck – as stages to his collections.[13][14]

In January 2019 for the first time, during the Ermenegildo Zegna XXX Winter 2019 fashion show, Sartori unveiled the #USETHEEXISTING project, which is entirely made with innovative processes from pre-existing sources.[15]

Under his direction, in 2017 Zegna opened its first Bespoke Atelier in Milan.[16]

Collaborations

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For many years, Sartori has partnered with Benjamin Millepied, co-founder of the L.A. Dance Project. In 2015/2016 he designed costumes for Millepied's team at the Paris Opera Ballet.[17] In 2017 all the dancers of the L.A. Dance Project performed in Marfa, Texas, wearing Ermenegildo Zegna Couture custom made looks for a streaming life worldwide premiere.[18] In 2019, all dancers from the L.A. Dance Project performed the world premiere of Bach Studies (part 2) at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, wearing Ermenegildo Zegna XXX custom designed looks by Sartori.[19]

In 2018 Sartori made the suits worn by actress Tilda Swinton who played the role of Josef Klemperer in Luca Guadagnino’s movie Suspiria.[20]

Since 2018 Sartori started designing the costumes for Genny Savastano, one of the main characters of the Italian series Gomorra, played by Salvatore Esposito.[21]

Awards and honors

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  • 2005 – Best International Designer of the Year, awarded by GQ Spain[22]
  • 2015 – Best Designer of the Year, awarded by GQ Spain
  • 2019 – I’m Alumni Award, awarded by Istituto Marangoni[23]   
  • 2022 – XII Edition Premio Nazionale per l’Innovazione, Premio dei Premi for #UseTheExisting[24]

Celebrities

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Many celebrities have worn outfits designed by Sartori.

In 2003, actor Adrien Brody wore Zegna to the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Brody also featured in Zegna campaigns that year.[25]

Actors and celebrities who wore Zegna outfits designed by Sartori include: Mahershala Ali and Javier Bardem;[26] Jake Gyllenhaal;[27] Chadwick Boseman, Sterling K. Brown, Lakeith Stanfield and Chris Pine, Quincy Taylor Brown, Ben Hardy, Daniel Brühl, Mena Massoud, Riz Ahmed, Will Poulter and models Joan Smalls, Toni Garrn, Karrueche Tran.[28]

Many other celebrities have worn Zegna outfits as part of a four-chapter campaign called Defining Moments, launched in 2017.[29] The campaign featured Robert De Niro, McCaul Lombardi, Benjamin Millepied, Park Chan-Wook, Yoo Ji-Tae, Wang Deshun, Sunny Wang, Javier Bardem, Dev Patel.[30]

In 2019 Zegna launched the “What does it mean to be a man today?” campaign, a first act featuring Mahershala Ali and Nicholas Tse, focused on the actual meaning of modern masculinity, followed by few more until Fall/Winter 2021. Among the other international talents involved in the campaign the model, singer and songwriter Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis and his mother five time César Award-winning actress Isabelle Adjani.[31]

In 2022 Zegna presented THE 232 brand value campaign, involving its family of visionaries including Italian musician Marracash, actor Isaac Hempstead Wright and movement director Yagamoto.[32]

Leaders from business, sport, entertainment, design, and culture have even become part of Zegna extended family over the years, these include Riz Ahmed at the 94th Academy Award,[33] John Legend,[34] Colin Farrell,[35] Alvaro Morte, Andrew Garfield, Li Xian,[36] Pierfrancesco Favino,[37] BTS[38] and many more.

References

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  1. ^ "Alessandro Sartori is part of the BoF 500". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  2. ^ Steven Kurutz (February 10, 2017), A New Designer (and Robert De Niro) for a Re-energized Zegna New York Times.
  3. ^ esarni@class.it. "Sartori — Milano Fashion Global Summit". www.fashionsummit.it. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  4. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Alessandro Sartori Vision For Ermenegildo Zegna". A&E Magazine. 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  5. ^ Socha, Miles (2012-01-21). "Berluti Men's RTW Fall 2012". WWD. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  6. ^ Berluti Fall 2016 review on Vogue.com
  7. ^ Alessandro Sartori Exits Berluti Women's Wear Daily
  8. ^ Alessandro Sartori's 5 Years At Berluti Women's Wear Daily
  9. ^ "Menswear is now frantic as Women's".
  10. ^ Ermenegildo Zegna Hires Alessandro Sartori vogue.com
  11. ^ Zegna Confirms Alessandro Sartori Return wwd.com
  12. ^ "Alessandro Sartori Exits Berluti, Heads for Zegna". LUXUO. 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  13. ^ Magazine, Wallpaper* (2019-01-13). "Ermenegildo Zegna A/W 2019 Milan Fashion Week Men's". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  14. ^ Foreman, Katya (2019-06-15). "Ermenegildo Zegna Men's Spring 2020". WWD. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  15. ^ DeAcetis, Joseph. "Ermenegildo Zegna XXX Fall/Winter 2019 Presents A Favorable Rise Of Social Good". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  16. ^ Zargani, Luisa (2017-03-14). "Ermenegildo Zegna Introduces Bespoke Service and Atelier". WWD. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  17. ^ Medina, Marcy (2015-12-12). "Benjamin Millepied Teams with Berluti's Alessandro Sartori for Ballets, RTW". WWD. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  18. ^ Feitelberg, Rosemary (2017-05-31). "L.A. Dance Project Partners With Ermenegildo Zegna Couture for Marfa Performances". WWD. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  19. ^ "Ermenegildo Zegna XXX Outfits Royal Ballet Flanders Performers". Flaunt Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  20. ^ Tashjian, Rachel (2018-09-07). "82-Year-Old "Suspiria" Actor Is Your New Menswear Icon—Because He's Tilda Swinton?". Garage. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  21. ^ "Gomorra 4, lo stile dei boss punta sull'eccellenza made in Italy". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  22. ^ Seisdedos, Iker (May 28, 2006). "La nueva cara de Zegna" – via elpais.com.
  23. ^ Carrera, Martino (2019-07-02). "Alessandro Sartori Receives Istituto Marangoni Award". WWD. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  24. ^ "ADI - Associazione per il Disegno Industriale". www.adi-design.org. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  25. ^ "GETTING BRODY". British Vogue. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  26. ^ Evans, Jonathan (2019-02-28). "An Inside Look at How Mahershala Ali Masters Red-Carpet Style". Esquire. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  27. ^ "Best-dressed men at the 2019 Tony Awards". Esquire Middle East. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  28. ^ Benjamin, Mark (2019-06-18). "Ermenegildo Zegna XXX Spring/Summer 2020". RAIN Magazine. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  29. ^ Kurutz, Steven (2017-02-10). "A New Designer (and Robert De Niro) for a Re-energized Zegna". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  30. ^ "Classing up selvedge denim". Augustman. 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  31. ^ "Ermenegildo Zegna launches the 'What Makes A Man' Campaign". Esquire Middle East. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  32. ^ "Meet the 232: Zegna Unveils a New Campaign Celebrating Visionaries". Prestige Online - Indonesia. 2022-05-17. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  33. ^ "Oscars 2022: Riz Ahmed's win another 'first' for Hollywood's Muslims". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  34. ^ "John Legend in Zegna". PAPER. 2022-04-03. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  35. ^ Limited, Alamy. "HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CA, USA - MARCH 11: Actor Colin Farrell wearing Ermenegildo Zegna XXX arrives at the World Premiere Of Disney's 'Dumbo' held at The Ray Dolby Ballroom and El Capitan Theatre on March 11, 2019 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Sipa USA Stock Photo - Alamy". www.alamy.com. Retrieved 2022-07-14. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  36. ^ "Li Xian became the spokesperson of Zegna, not only by popularity, but also by impeccable fashion temperament".
  37. ^ "Favino indossa Zegna al Festival del Cinema di Roma". Newsbiella.it (in Italian). 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  38. ^ "The 10 Biggest Fits of the Week". GQ. 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
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