NYFW Wednesday: Zegna, Jacquemus, Uniqlo and Sacai

On a busy Wednesday evening, the Italian luxury marque unveiled Villa Zegna on the Upper East Side, while Jacquemus, Sacai and Uniqlo all staged evening events as New York Fashion Week kicked off.

Inspired by the original family home of the brand’s founder, Ermenegildo Zegna, and the giant nature reserve Oasi Zegna he developed in the Italian Alps beside the company’s HQ, the sleek presentation was a brilliant method of high-lighting all the recent news at this dynamic house.
 
Staged inside a beautiful cut-stone townhouse gallery located next door to the Guggenheim Museum on Central Park, the installation included artifacts from Ermenegildo’s historic visit to America in 1938. 

Ermenegildo went on to plant more than half a million trees and built a panoramic road connecting the two sides of the mountain landscape in the area where Oasi Zegna – the 100km2 natural territory in Piedmont, over 30 times the size of Central Park.
 
To establish his fabrics in America, the largest economy in the world, he boarded a transatlantic liner to New York City to meet the Italian tailors whom he regarded as the “best ambassadors of Zegna fabrics.” Elements of that visit were built into an elevator that even included his original desk.  
 
Villa Zegna’s first chapter was in Shanghai in May. Its second is New York: focusing on Ermenegildo American journey is entitled The Legend of Il Conte. 
 
Back in 1938, Ermenegildo organised a gala dinner in 1938 in honour of Professional Italian Tailors of America. This Wednesday in Manhattan, Zegna’s creative director Alessandro Sartori and Ermenegildo’s great grandson Edoardo Zegna hosted a dinner with the same menu  – Ravioli allla Napoletana; Cicken Abrruzze and sorbet with merinque.
 
Recalling that as a boy he admired the family villa, and played in the Oasi, Sartori noted in a short speech, “I could not be more happy than to be part of the Zegna family today.”
 
A one-week-long installation over three floors, that includes a multi-sensory presentation of Oasi’s environmental impact and unique recycling processes; a dining room with a beautiful ceiling fresco of the nature park; a swish presentation of its exclusive collections, and a dedicated private lounge for selected clients. Star of the looks a series of personalized versions of the new “Il Conte” jacket.
 
Dinners will continue throughout fashion week.
 

Jacquemus in Nordstrom

The evening began with the opening of a Jacquemus boutique in Nordstrom’s men’s department store on Broadway and 57th street. 
 
The 34-year-old French designer had begun his day by receiving a 2024 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion from the Museum at FIT. Despite the fact that Simon Porte Jacquemus is not technically a couturier.
 
Jacquemus has built a substantial business with his inventive handbags and clutches, seen in both the men’s and women’s stores of Nordstrom. Though judging by his oversized conceptual clothes on display, recent speculation that he is in the running for the job a designer at Chanel seems very far-fetched.
 

Uniqlo Lifewear

A day after Uniqlo announced the appointment of Clare Waight Keller as its debut creative director, the giant Japanese brand presented some of her most recent ideas for the house. Staged inside Spring Studios and washed won by some frankly ridiculous vomit yellow sake cocktails.
 
With sunshine beaming in, one could examine the 2024/25 fall winter Lifewear collection, which was a hit and miss affair. Along with some fine deconstructed felt wool jackets and clever knubby sweaters for men, there were clever new light weight down vests and cardigan – a key Uniqlo category.
 
However, far too often the styling evoked a nerd on a desperate date a the mid-western dentist’s daughter – clangers like the cocktails.
 

Sacai in Bergdorf Goodman to celebrate Bill Cunningham

Hipster fashion assemblage brand Sacai celebrated one of fashion’s favorite figures, Bill Cunningham with another cocktail party.
 
Specifically, the late photographer’s recently unearthed photos of the famed Battle of Versailles, where American and French designers went head to head in an epic 1973 joint show. A fashion moment recalled in a photo exhibition in a season which one hopes will produce more.