Agnona

Francesco Ilorini Mo founded Agnona in 1953 as a specialist in fine fibres and luxury textiles. The company developed an international reputation for cashmere, alpaca, vicuña and other high-grade materials before extending into women’s ready-to-wear and accessories. Zegna acquired control in 1999, but Agnona remained a separate brand and company with its own creative leadership.

Stefano Pilati became Creative Director in 2013 and used the ZERO project to test a less seasonal retail system built around prototypes and immediate purchase. Simon Holloway succeeded him for Autumn/Winter 2016 with responsibility across categories and image. Zegna sold a majority interest in January 2021 and disposed of the remaining stake later that year. Agnona remains active as an independent family-connected business, though no current named creative director was verified at the July 2026 cutoff.

Agnona’s design language is anchored in fibre quality: cashmere, camel, alpaca and fine wool are treated through restrained shapes that let weight, softness and finish remain visible. The house’s strongest work avoids forcing textile luxury into heavy formality, favouring long coats, knitwear, relaxed trousers and quiet tonal surfaces.

Pilati’s tenure introduced a sharper tension between exceptional material and modern distribution, particularly through ZERO’s prototypes, pop-up setting and immediate sale. Later collections widened the gender and product range, but the textile origin remains the clearest through-line across changes in ownership and authorship.