MILAN — It may come as a surprise to some, but there’s another major Italian fashion brand that has its own pride of place in in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” as Al Pacino playing Aldo Gucci and Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci wear bespoke Ermenegildo Zegna suits in the film.
The choice is a faithful reflection of reality, explained Alessandro Sartori, artistic director of the Zegna men’s wear powerhouse.
“Aldo and Maurizio Gucci would wear Zegna or tailored looks because there were very few men’s wear fashion brands at the time,” said Sartori, speaking about the two decades between the ‘70s and the ‘80s, when parts of the film take place. Gucci itself did not yet have a men’s wear apparel division. “Zegna back then was already a global brand that ranged from made-to-measure and ready-to-wear to ties and accessories.”
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Sartori worked with Scott and the film’s costume designer, Janty Yates, and her team, creating for the role of Aldo Gucci a bespoke three-piece suit and a broken suit that features notch lapels and a fully canvas jacket. The silk lining and fabrics are from an exclusive selection of Lanificio Zegna’s archive.
For the role of Maurizio Gucci, the Zegna bespoke wardrobe includes a double-breasted suit, a notch lapel fully canvas jacket and a blazer with metal buttons exclusively crafted. Fabrics by Zegna are exclusively woven.
“I recreated the looks as loyally to the reality of that time as possible, inspired by the archives and that environment, without any strange interpretation,” said Sartori. “There were precise references to Aldo and Maurizio wearing Zegna and it was important for me to enter into their heads in that historical moment.”
That meant more defined revers, for example, or longer jackets and boxy shapes. The weight of fabrics was also different, as the materials were “more compact,” observed Sartori, who employed mohair wool, poplin and gabardine, all “very typical of that moment.” From the choice of materials to the construction, the shapes, the colors, the details, the buttons and the linings were all key elements, said Sartori.
“I wanted to be faithful to the period. The aesthetics of a precise moment in time are also expressed through the costumes and the clothes,” offered Sartori.
“I had a lot of fun doing this and found it really very interesting,” said Sartori. The designer has not yet seen the film so he declined to comment on it. However, he said he was pleased with how the two actors looked in the trailers.
The designer and Zegna have previously collaborated on other movie projects, such as Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” and dressed several Hollywood actors, including, for example, Javier Bardem, Robert De Niro and Mahershala Ali, who have fronted the brand’s advertising campaigns.