For over a century, Zegna has quietly intertwined fashion with culture, threading its way through the worlds of art, design, and sustainability.
Now, that quiet legacy in art is stepping into the spotlight. The Italian menswear brand recently announced a multi-year global partnership with Art Basel, one of the most prestigious contemporary art platforms in the world. As official partner, Zegna will have a presence across all four Art Basel fairs—Basel, Miami Beach, Paris, and Hong Kong—offering curated experiences that deepen the connection between art, design, and responsible entrepreneurship.
It’s not a sudden leap, but rather the natural next chapter in a story Zegna has been writing for generations.
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The art of building culture
Art has long been stitched into Zegna’s DNA—not as decoration, but as a means of expressing deeper values. In the 1920s, brand founder Ermenegildo Zegna began commissioning public artworks in Trivero, the Italian town where the original wool mill was built. He believed that art could uplift both places and people, and that a factory need not only be functional—it could also be beautiful.
From monumental staircases and fountains to murals and friezes, these works became part of the environment, shaping what would eventually be known as Oasi Zegna—a 100 km² natural territory in the Alps that reflects the brand’s commitment to environmental and cultural harmony.
That vision didn’t fade over time. It matured.
Zegna continued to work with artists like Daniel Buren, Dan Graham, and Roman Signer, not for status, but for their ability to reflect the brand’s ethos with honesty and intention. Meanwhile, bespoke trophies created by the likes of Kiki Smith and Graham Sutherland celebrated the brand’s leadership in textile innovation, marrying legacy with creativity.
Even Zegna’s modern spaces are quietly curated. In its Milan headquarters, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Woolen—The Reinstated Apple pays homage to sustainable wool production. In stores across the globe, works by William Kentridge, Mimmo Jodice, and Ettore Spalletti reinforce the notion that art isn’t an add-on—it’s embedded in the brand’s architecture.
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Visible: Art with purpose
At the heart of Zegna’s partnership with Art Basel is Visible, a unique initiative founded by Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna. The project champions socially engaged art through a fellowship model that supports artists and collectives tackling today’s most urgent environmental and social issues.
This June at Art Basel in Basel, Zegna will unveil the 2025 Visible Situated Fellowship recipients, whose practices intersect activism, sustainability, and creativity. The event will also serve as a tribute to Michelangelo Pistoletto, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize—a moment that honors a lifetime of art as social transformation.
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To further embed Visible into Art Basel’s global ecosystem, Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms, has joined the initiative’s steering committee. “Through this partnership with Zegna and Cittadellarte, we’re supporting artists who use their practice to address today’s most urgent challenges and shape more resilient futures,” said De Bellis.
For Gildo Zegna, chairman and CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, the collaboration signals both continuity and evolution. “At Zegna, we see art not as embellishment, but as an agent of change. This partnership allows us to honor our legacy while actively investing in a more responsible future.”
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Legacy in motion
There’s also a deeper, almost poetic, thread connecting the past and present. Ettore Pistoletto Olivero, father of Michelangelo Pistoletto, was one of the first artists Ermenegildo Zegna commissioned nearly a century ago. Today, that generational loop closes in an act of cultural continuity—what started as a local gesture now resonates on a global stage.
To mark the partnership’s launch, Zegna will release a commemorative tote bag featuring works by Cecilia Carlstedt, drawn from the brand’s Born in Oasi Zegna book. The design serves as a symbol of the ongoing dialogue between nature, culture, and progress.
Unlike most fashion partnerships, Zegna’s collaboration with Art Basel doesn’t aim to make noise. Instead, it seeks to create space—for art, for artists, for conversations that matter.
This is not a reinvention, but a revelation. A way of saying: we’ve always been here, doing this quietly. Now the time has come to let it blossom.
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