There is something about Texas. Phrases such as “Don’t mess with Texas” and “Everything is big in Texas” didn’t just magically appear. For some reason, Texans have a lot of state pride. Robert Ackerman can tell you. “I love Texas,” he says with a smile. “In the DNA of all Texans is a love for Texas. If I said I didn’t, I’m sure I’d be excommunicated.”
Like some other people we know, Ackerman has a ranch in Texas—not in Crawford, but in the state’s northeastern Fannin County. Except rather than vacationing there occasionally, in 2002, Ackerman had settled down for retirement. After 39 years with Neiman Marcus and rising to the high-end retailer’s top men’s merchant post—senior vice president and general merchandise manager—he left the company’s headquarters in Dallas to finally get some well-deserved R&R with his wife on their secluded ranch.
With a population smaller than Beverly Hills and a population density of 35 people per square mile, Fannin County is definitely a place to get away from it all. But, for many people, including Ackerman, that’s what retirement is about. Given this, you may be surprised to find out that Ackerman isn’t retired anymore. What’s more, he’s not living on his ranch or even in Texas for that matter. Of all places, Ackerman is now living and working in New York City. Why, you ask? Sure he missed working, but he was also presented with an extraordinary opportunity—to take one of the finest fashion labels in the world to new heights. Ackerman is now the president and CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna, North America.
Yet, pushing a men’s brand like Zegna higher up the ladder of success isn’t an easy task. The reason is because the company and its sister label, Agnona, are already doing so well. Ever since the Italian clothing line was founded by Ermenegildo Zegna in 1910, it has become renowned for producing fine quality suits. It did this by a focused strategy of selecting the best raw materials and striving to continually be innovative in its products and the production process. Even beyond Zegna’s top-notch made-to-measure suits, shirts, ties, belts, and shoes is a vision of quality that can still be seen in the company today. Exemplary of this is its new pioneering concept in printed silk ties. After months of intensive research, Zegna developed “Cesello,” (“chiseled” in Italian), which uses a new and unique type of dye and screening technique to achieve remarkable sparkle, definition, and precision in the ground of the tie’s pattern. Not surprisingly, Zegna is the only neckwear house in the world to have in-house designers, sketch artists, color CAD technicians, and proprietary screen converting. For Ackerman, the team process of working with these talented craftsmen, the Zegna family, and many of the other 5,000 people Zegna employs worldwide to stay on the cutting-edge of fashion is truly a thrilling experience (apparently, even better than Texas). Likewise, the Zegna family has expressed exciting confidence in Ackerman’s ability to lead. “Robert was selected to provide a harmonious transition between our past heritage and the future of Zegna,” says its worldwide CEO, Ermenegildo Zegna. With that said—what is the future of Zegna?
According to CEO Zegna, the company’s forward approach will revolve around “selective distribution, product innovation, strong relationships, listening to the customer, promoting products on the floor, and learning from our own retail business how to be more effective.” When taking this strategy as a whole, there is a clear emphasis on retail. Retailers form relationships with communities, sell products in store, and are most in tune with the needs of customers, thus enabling them to help set a company direction. Essentially, this is where Ackerman comes in. He is a phenomenal merchant.
“Today everybody in the world is asking for lighter fabrics,” Ackerman says, giving a concrete example. “So we’ve worked with our suppliers of wool, and they are offering us a greater selection of lighter-weight goods.” Additionally, Zegna also has exclusive use of the lightest microfiber on the market—Aqualite—which it uses for the Zegna Sport collection (jackets, vests, and golf attire). Undoubtably, none of the above business choices would have been made without the nurturing feedback of retail shoppers.
However, as Ackerman points out, there is one thing intrinsic about Zegna which is particularly conducive to a successful retail business—it is family owned. “Their [the Zegna family] name is on the door,” says Ackerman. “So everything that happens is a reflection on them. They reflect on the good and bad personally.” And unlike the typical corporation which feels the encumbering weight of immediate financial gratification from public shareholders, a family-owned business such as Zegna has the luxury to take a longer strategic point of view—not necessarily quarterly or yearly.
Thus, it’s not surprising that while Zegna operates 404 retail stores around the world, it only has 10 in the U.S. of which the first opened in 1990. Simply put—quality instead of quantity. In fact, rather than racing to open new stores across California, Zegna will soon renovate our local store in Beverly Hills. Perhaps then, what Zegna has shown most as a company as a whole, is that sometimes investing the effort, time, and money to be the best can pay off. It took almost a year for it to find Ackerman. And that, unquestionably, was time well spent.

—David Krissman