Zegna Group Names New Leadership as Family Plans Succession

Zegna Group is reshuffling its leadership as it “prepares for the future.”

Gianluca Tagliabue, the company’s chief financial and chief operating officer, is being promoted to the role of group CEO, as Gildo Zegna steps into an executive chairman role.

Fourth-generation family members Edoardo and Angelo Zegna will be become co-CEOs of the group’s flagship Zegna brand.

The $2.6 billion group, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 but remains controlled by the Zegna family, also owns Thom Browne and Tom Ford’s fashion business.

Gildo Zegna has led Zegna Group as chairman and CEO for over 20 years, a transformative tenure during which the company accelerated its international expansion, diversified its portfolio and went public.

In his new role, Zegna will focus on “safeguarding the legacy and integrity of the group’s three brands… while continuing to drive long-term value creation.” He will also retain oversight of the group’s textile division, the group general counsel and external relations.

New CEO Tagliabue has helped the group navigate key developments like the New York listing, the onboarding of new acquisitions and a radical evolution of the Zegna brand, from a formal suiting label with large wholesale exposure to a more casual, retail-driven lifestyle proposition. “Over the past decade, Gianluca has been a cornerstone of our group, leading the company through key transformations,” Zegna said in a statement.

At Zegna’s flagship brand, two great-grandchildren of founder Ermenegildo Zegna are set to take the reins: Gildo’s son Edoardo will lead “all aspects of brand strategy” from image to marketing and design (alongside creative director Alessandro Sartori), while his brother Angelo will oversee product development, merchandising and commercial strategy.

Other family members involved in the firm include Anna Zegna (Gildo’s sister) and Paolo (his first cousin), both of whom sit on its board of directors. But Edoardo and Angelo have increasingly been positioned as the face of the family’s fourth generation, accompanying Gildo on key missions like staging a runway show in Dubai in June.

“One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is to think ahead — to prepare for the future and empower the next generation of leadership, Gildo Zegna said in a statement. “Edoardo and Angelo’s complementary strengths and clear vision will make them a highly effective team to lead Zegna brand. They continue the family legacy and have demonstrated their business leadership over the past years.”

With today’s shakeup, Zegna joins Milan-based Prada in accelerating plans for succession. Prada Group co-founder Patrizio Bertelli gave up his CEO title in 2023, becoming chairman and bringing in an external CEO to ease an eventual transition of leadership to Lorenzo Bertelli, his son with Miuccia Prada.

Zegna has held up better than most rivals during the downturn in luxury demand, buoyed by its focus on high-end, logo-free ready-to-wear (rather than the turbulent handbag category, which powered the sector’s growth before faltering in recent years).

Third-quarter sales rose 3.6 percent. Bernstein analysts estimate full-year revenues for 2025 will be broadly flat at €1.9 billion.