Zegna CEO details the luxury fashion brand's SPAC debut

Thank you. Good morning to everybody. Why now? I think timing is everything in life, and I was offered by Mr. Bonomi in January to join him in the SPAC. We discussed a few months and we thought that we had the same strategy in mind and we could do something important together for the family and for our next investor and for Made in Italy. So we decided to go. We worked very hard and here we are. But the one thing for sure, we are not changing the strategy that I was able to consolidate during 20 years. You know, more lifestyle brand, less formal brand, and changing the perception of Zegna from power suit to luxury leisure. And I think that's the way the world is going. So I think we have good prospects for the future in America, around the world.

And if I might add two things. Reforestation has been at the whim of my family since the '30s. My grandpa planted more than half a million trees, and our generation is doing the same right now. Second, we have a strong sustainability project in a product called Use the Existing, by which we take the waste of our textile process. We are a strong industry in textiles, and we create new fabric called Use the Existing. So I think that all this goes in the right direction of the times.

No, luxury for me is something scarce, something exclusive, something of excellence. I think that the word 'quality' is not in our language. True for us, we go for a world of excellence, and it means really doing well the process, from sheep to shop, as we like to say it. We have a farm in Australia where we buy a good part of our superfine wool. We have knitwear companies, we have a clothing company, we have a spinning company. So we really guarantee the entire process. And for us the words sustainability and traceability are part of the luxury. Then luxury is about creating a special product or a special project. And I think that, for instance, the cashmere jacket I'm wearing today or the cashmere that Mr. Bonomi is wearing are something very unique. There was more interest from women as well, and so we are becoming a little bit more versatile. And I think that we'd like to create a new shopping experience for the men's shops at Zegna—more fun, and not just for the occasion, but just come along and see what we have new. So we are going to create more collections, not by season as we have done, but by occasion or by project. And I think that having this supply chain that is fully integrated helps. Besides that, we have Thom Browne as well. This is another trophy that we acquired two years ago and doing super well. And I must say that Thom was with us on the balcony in Wall Street at the New York Stock Exchange because we are working well with Zegna Textile. So I think that all these things make us become more of a leader in the luxury field, which is becoming a world of scarcity.

Listen, you see what both me and Andrea are wearing today. We are not wearing this for the occasion. We are wearing this in the office, we are wearing this when we travel, we are wearing this when we are on a weekend with our family. So this is the new lifestyle. My goal is to gently replace the wardrobe of men that have dozens of suits in their wardrobe with something more fun and more comfortable that is very, very high quality. As a matter of fact, the wardrobe you see today is offered made-to-order. Made-to-order is our Formula One for many, many years, not only in furnishing accessories but also in luxury sportswear. So I think, Michael, a recommendation is just to wear something that you feel comfortable in, that still makes you look dapper. But don't think that the suit is dead or the tie is dead—absolutely not. I think that there will still be occasions in which one can wear a suit. Surely at the boardroom I'm more confident to wear a suit and a nice tie, or for a ceremonial dressing—a proper nice tuxedo with a nice bow tie. So I think that the fun thing is that the wardrobe of the man will be more fun, a little bit like what women have been experiencing and experimenting with all these years.

Listen, my grandpa would be very proud—that I can tell you. As much as I've been proud of what he did, because this man in the '30s was a visionary and was a philanthropist, creating Panoramica Zegna, our road to the mountain, which will take us—that road will take us to the future. And this Oasi Zegna territory, 30 times the size of Central Park, is our pride. And so I'm glad that I was able to not match what he did, but a little bit go after his example. Succession—I'm not a young man any longer, but Andrea asked me to serve for the last couple of years, which I will do with joy. I feel the energy, I feel the passion, and I think I've shown that I know what I'm doing. One day there will be a transaction—it would be foolish to think that somebody won't succeed me. But I think it's premature to talk about it. However, meritocracy—I lived in America, I studied in America, and I think meritocracy, beside freedom, is a great thing of this country. So we are going to apply meritocracy for my succession. But I can tell you that the fourth generation is already serving its purpose. I've got three young men working with me. My oldest son Edoardo was with me on the road show, and I'm very proud of what we did together. So I think we are in safe hands.