On Thursday, Zara unveiled the campaign for its latest designer collaboration, a coed capsule collection by the lauded Stefano Pilati. To celebrate the launch, Pilati and Marta Ortega Pérez, chair of Zara’s parent company Inditex, threw a party that evening at an expansive, artfully crumbling space in Paris’s second arrondissement.
The massive room was littered with dark-purple calla lilies, hundreds of tapered candles lining antique-looking archways. A grazing table where tasty canapés were served featured ripe figs and pomegranates fit for a Dutch still life. Thumping beats made the space rattle (pleasantly). Bündchen, who appears in the collection’s campaign alongside Pilati in a dramatic series of black-and-white images photographed by Steven Meisel, held court for the night.
“Stefano came to me and was like, Gisele, this is going to be the inspiration for the shoot: you’re Monica Vitti, and I’m the director,” Bündchen, clad in a dress and trousers by Pilati, told W. “It’s so rare to do that these days, where you get to play a character. I love it!”
Pilati’s Zara collection, which hits stores on October 3rd, was inspired largely by the designer’s own personal style. The Milan native may be primarily known for the clothes he created—at houses like Yves Saint Laurent, where he served as creative director from 2004 to 2012; Zegna; and his own label, Random Identities—but he’s also recognized for his singular edge (the words “Freedom of Behaviour” are tattooed across his forehead).
“The collection was based on my personal style, what I would wear,” Pilati said. “It’s a bit of what I wanted to wear and couldn’t find, and a bit of concepts I’ve had in my head for a long time and wanted to develop.” For Zara, the Berlin-based designer delivered men’s and womenswear, which cover both elegant (gently rolled turtleneck sweaters, peacoats, pleated trousers) and delightful kookiness (a ruffled tuxedo shirt, a print of tiny strawberries). The prices are reasonable, ranging from $17.90 to $399, for a coat. It feels beyond a trend cycle—which tracks for Pilati, who says he finds “seasons in fashion somehow obsolete,” preferring a model in which he can “drop things when they feel right.”
And what of his budding career as a model? “I’m not a model, I’m not an actor, I’m a designer!,” Pilati said. “I’m not someone who usually celebrates myself like that. But for this collection, I was really in the spotlight.”
Numerous A-listers came out for the event, including Kate Moss, director Luca Guadagnino, photographer Mario Sorrenti, and models Iris Law, Julia Nobis, Liya Kebede, Caroline Trentini, and Moss’s daughter, Lila, who says she sees Pilati as a “fairy godfather.” Makeup impresario Pat McGrath was in the mix, confirming that she was “having fun, lots of fun.” Pilati’s muse, artist, and dancer MJ Harper, summed up the mood in the room, saying, “I’m forever in love with him.” Pilati prom!
