When John Turturro saw that the setting for Zegna’s runway show here was a grassy hill, he wondered if he had fallen into an Italian wormhole and ended up back on the set of “Severance.”
“That was my first thought,” Mr. Turturro said backstage after the show, still buzzing with energy because he had just completed his first-ever turn as a runway model.
See, Zegna’s green stage looked a lot like a set from Season 2 of “Severance,” which premiered Friday. That’s not it rather a spoiler to discuss this, as the nubby green landscape is visible in the season trailer. Still, 67-year-old Turturro, the American actor who plays one of Lumon Industries’ metaphysically split employees in the show, was reluctant to reveal more about where the show was going.
So we left it at that. But Mr Turturro was happy to discuss his modeling cameo for the 115-year-old Zegna. (For what it’s worth, the setting is designed to evoke the grassland where sheep graze: Zegna used the collection to introduce Vellus Aureum designs, which the company claims are made from the finest wool in the world. Grass, sheep, wool. Understood.
“That was my virginal walk,” said Mr. Turturro, still dressed in the plunging V-neck sweater and flowing pleated pants he wore on the runway. He had taken off the va-vavoom tweed coat and it was lying nearby.
This was not a ‘Severance’ outfit. That show’s corporate bombshells trudge around in blue suits and uninspired non-iron shirts – clothes that make them seem innocuous and even invisible.
In contrast, this masterful Zegna collection, designed by Alessandro Sartori, Zegna’s longtime artistic director, demanded close inspection and a lot of attention. Plaids were magnified as if viewed through a microscope. And a corduroy suit, a menswear archetype about as old as Zegna itself, hanging like a polka-dot bathrobe.
Look closer: Yes, those were two button-up shirts, awkwardly stacked on top of each other. (It may be lost on Mr. Sartori, an Italian, but to American eyes this is a layering that brings to mind one person: Steve Bannon.) And the button on that sport coat was placed lower than normal. And yes, the lapels were sturdier than average, making the models, many of whom had gray beards and a good generation beyond the ones you normally see in Milan, look like 1970s casino magnates you wouldn’t want to encounter .
As Mr. Turturro did his rookie walk — his jacket slumped back at the shoulders, his hands stuffed in his pockets, a slight grin that signaled he was in charge and not concerned — it was clear how Zegna left the Davos set had won and the confident Hollywood types.
“You would feel like you’re not having new experiences at my age,” Mr. Turturro said after the show. “This was a new experience for me.” He was certainly far from Lumon Industries.
