Ermenegildo Zegna (; born 30 September 1955), often simply known and referred to as Gildo Zegna, is an Italian entrepreneur and manager. He is Chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Ermenegildo Zegna Group.

Early life and education

Gildo is a grandson of Ermenegildo Zegna, who founded the family business in 1910. Gildo Zegna was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

in 1955. His father Angelo, who had run the business since the mid-1960s with his brother Aldo, was the Company's honorary chairman until his death in 2021. Gildo Zegna graduated in economics from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

in 1978. In 1981, he attended a managerial program at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Career

Gildo Zegna entered the family business in 1982, managing the distribution of Zegna products in the U.S. and Canada as President of Ermenegildo Zegna Corporation. From 1986 to 1989 he served as CEO of Italco SA, supervising the distribution of Zegna products in Spain. Gildo Zegna has been a board member of Ermenegildo Zegna Group since 1989, becoming chief executive officer in 1997. Under his guide, together with his cousin Paolo Zegna, the label has undertaken a strategy of full

verticalization In urbanism, verticalization is the rapid increase of inner city apartment high-rise buildings, resulting in the development of "vertical" city parts and urban densification. Although both verticalization and densification processes in cities can ...

and

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use thi ...

. The Zegna Group took over the high-end textile manufacturer Bonotto in 2016; the historic Cappellificio Cervo hat-maker and the American label Thom Browne in 2018; the Italian high-quality jersey fabrics manufacturer Dondi in 2019; the fabric makers Tessitura Ubertino and Tessitura Biagioli Modesto in 2021. In addition to running the Zegna Group, Gildo Zegna is also Chairman of the board of directors of Thom Browne Inc. and a board member of Tom Ford International. He is also Chairman of Filati Biagioli Modesto. He served as a board member of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV from 2014 to 2018. Gildo Zegna is a member of the Council for the United States and Italy and of the Camera Nazionale della Moda italiana.

Awards and honors

Gildo Zegna was awarded the title Knight of Labour (Cavaliere del lavoro) in 2011 by Italian president

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

. In 2016, he received the Leonardo Prize from Italian President Sergio Mattarella, a prestigious award given to an Italian personality who has acted in a significant way to promote the image of Italy in the world.

Personal life

He is married with two sons.

Honours

* Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zegna, Ermenegildo Living people Italian businesspeople 1955 births Alumni of the University of London Recipients of the Order of Merit for Labour