Family and legacy: Elie Saab and Gildo Zegna on their shared formula for success

“Dubai is the centre of the world right now. This is where it happens.”

That is how Gildo Zegna, chairman and chief executive of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, which owns Zegna, Tom Ford and Thom Browne, explained why the refined gentlemen’s outfitter brought its spring/summer 2026 fashion show to Dubai from its native Milan.

Having transformed Dubai Opera into Villa Zegna – a recreation of the Zegna family home in Milan – for the week, the audience was invited back the day after the fashion show for a panel discussion between Gildo Zegna, his son Angelo, Lebanese couturier Elie Saab and his son, Elie Saab Junior.

Such a line-up would normally signal a new joint venture, collaboration or some other business deal, but instead of being transactional, it unfolded as a surprisingly moving treatise on the importance of family, legacy and passion, as the four shared their experience of running family businesses.

Both the Elie Saab and Zegna companies have grown far beyond their beginnings. Elie Saab started making couture in Beirut in 1982, and today tops an empire that spans haute couture, ready-to-wear, perfume, interiors, real estate and even yachts. Much of this was spearheaded by his son, Elie Saab Junior, who joined his father as brand director in 2012 and is now group chief executive and vice chairman.

He outlined his admiration for his father, who started in a country torn apart by war. “Seeing him have a very strong vision and a very important dream, which at the time was difficult to even think of. Taking his suitcase on a boat to Cyprus, then a plane to present his collection to clients all over the world is an inspiration on its own.”

His father’s passion, he explained, drew him in from a tender age. “I remember I was three, four years old with the seamstresses in the atelier, with the design team, sitting with him in his office, seeing him create his collections.

“Living the heritage of what the brand is today, it is a dream,” he said, explaining that as a family company, it can often spill over into family life. “There’s a very blurred line between our life and our work, and most often, we live our work, and it’s part of our life.”

Angelo Zegna, chief executive of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and global client strategy director, held a similar view. He described learning from his father, Gildo, from a young age, when he and his brother would skip holidays to join their father on work trips abroad instead. “It was the best retail school we ever had,” he explained.

During these excursions, he witnessed his father hiring people from other fields, because he recognised something in them that would benefit the company.

“Often these were waiters, hotel concierges, people we met on airlines. My father was believing in young people, giving them a chance.”

For his part, Gildo Zegna – who expanded his grandfather’s Italian textile company into a maker of refined menswear – maintains his role is to inspire others to push boundaries, describing himself as an optimist and entrepreneur.

“The master entrepreneur has to be positive,” Gildo said. “I see the glass half full and I think that the most important thing is to keep the entrepreneurial, creative spirit

“One of the things that I’m most proud of is that we have become an employer of choice in the luxury world. It means we are doing things well. With positive energy, we believe in creating new dreams.”

Angelo also explained how the company has learnt to create an environment to best harness different viewpoints. “We think of ourselves, and of the family business, as a house where each generation builds a different floor,” he said.

“We are very respectful of what the previous generations built, but we are here to disrupt that to bring it into the future.”

Finding a common language that can span the age range has been key to evolution, he added. “Both generations started working together. We were young, they were wise.”

Wisdom too, is important to Elie Saab Junior, who is grateful for the lessons his father has passed on. “My father taught me everything I know and gave me the foundation to go through all the challenges in life and never give up,” he said.

“Patience is something I heard a lot while growing up. By being patient, one day after the other, you build strength.”

These are qualities important for today, Gildo Zegna agreed. Although Zegna today is a billion dollar organisation, it is a space where “meritocracy and entrepreneurship are very important. This is the main succession plan, and this is what you instil in the new generation.”

He was also quick to lay success at the feet of the entire team. “There is always talk about stores. I like to talk about the factories because without the artisans, what artistic director Alessandro Sartori has done would have been impossible.”

As other companies look to reduce costs by shifting manufacturing to cheaper countries, Gildo is aware that his family has a deeper responsibility. “I think that our biggest responsibility is to keep Italian companies in Italy. I can tell you that we’ll be one of the few Italian companies remaining Italian.”

Elie Saab Junior agreed that a company's legacy can never be taken for granted. “You cannot sleep on it. On the contrary, you have to keep on nurturing it, keep on shaping and evolving it, because if you don’t, the legacy will disappear.”

Angelo recalled growing up with “a number”. When Zegna turned 100 in 2010, John Elkann, chairman of the automotive multinational Stellantis, spelt out to Angelo and his brother that “out of 1 million companies, only 44 make it to 100 years. And out of 1 billion, only one makes it to 200 years.”

The message was clear, he said. Having made it to its centenary, the company now had to come together to stand any chance of surviving for another one hundred years.

Elie Saab Junior is aware that the future of the company rests on the shoulders of his father and himself. “I take it with a big responsibility to carry it on to the next generation,” he said.

“I'm very lucky to work with a man like my father. He's not only an inspiration to me but an inspiration to the whole world. So imagine what it is ]like] for me to work with him and learn from him every day.”