The global context remains complex, but Zegna is clear about the challenges ahead. Starting with the importance of investing in the supply chain. Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO and Chairman of the group, stresses how much of the success comes from safeguarding the supply chain, while speaking with Corriere della Sera. The company’s supply chain today is made of 30 companies, covering 60% of production in-house. A mutual benefit, for the companies and for the group, which in 2024 had a turnover of 1.9 billion euro (+ 2.2%) and aims to reach 2.2 to 2.4 billion by 2027.
Investing in the supply chain
It seems obvious, but investment strategies align with group priorities, or with the concept of eternal luxury, which requires time and knowledge on each step. “The essence of the supply chain is excellence developed through slow pace. We feel we are protectors of slowness. Today we have about 30 companies that make up our supply chain and that give us the possibility to produce more than 60% of our productions in-house”, Gildo Zegna emphasizes. A constant commitment, as in the case of the new footwear and leather goods factory that will open by the end of 2026 in Sala Baganza (Parma). “Footwear already represents 15% of sales for Zegna (with the goal of bringing more than 50% of production in-house), for us it’s a competitive advantage on the research and development front, in quick service, in finishing”, Zegna continues.
A competitive advantage
Controlling the supply chain also means diversifying. Internalizing most of the steps also allows Zegna to focus on customization, which is already worth more than 10% of sales. “It’s a mutual advantage: it’s very costly for the supply chain to finance itself, and a group like ours supports it by contributing to investments, so many in technology-including AI-and in the search for talent. It’s an invisible know-how built over several generations that we now pass on to the companies that work with us”, Zegna concludes.
The Chairman makes no secret of his personal rooting for the return of Versace to Italy, now at the center of a likely takeover by Prada, in his words “the only one who can do it”. And he also comments the swirling round of creative directors, which according to him, risks destabilizing the customer. “The impression is that brands have sometimes forgotten their DNA. The role of the designer is one with that of the manager. He has to know about planning, design, pattern making, packaging, but also the supply chain”.
Photo from Zegna
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