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Former Yves Saint Laurent designer Stefano Pilati is finally releasing ready-to-wear under his own name with his new Zara capsule — and tomorrow’s the big drop day.
Launching in stores and online on Oct. 3, the long-awaited Stefano Pilati x Zara collection ($17.90 to $699) comprises womenswear, menswear and accessories ranging from $17.90 for striped socks to $399 for a black leather statement jacket finished with oversized metal eyelets. Other standouts include an embellished sheer halterneck dress designed to be paired with trousers and other bottoms underneath, a deep-V jumpsuit, tuxedo blazers and pants in relaxed fits, leather pants and skirts, over-the-knee lace-up boots and faux fur coats. (Some men’s pieces have already landed on the brand’s website.)
It’s not all business: Zara’s latest designer collab gets a playful touch with strawberry- and banana-print silk blouses and pants, ruffled button-downs and tops, mesh tanks and long-sleeved shirts, jackets finished with oversized grommets, rainbow-striped pants and a frayed-edge peacoat with a dramatic collar.
Of his design philosophy, Pilati recently explained on Instagram, “I’ve always treated fashion as a medium able to be expressed, used, and part of sociological issues, sometimes political, and definitely philosophical. Nothing per se needs to be said: symbolising through design and ‘gestures’ can be powerful. Adding anti-conformism to my creations allowed me to opt out of the bourgeois-luxury-cliché.”
Those style codes are seen in his Zara collection by way of blazers and suit pants in voluptuous silhouettes, traditional striped button-down shirts with rounded collars and pieces with checkered or houndstooth accents (or both); and in the lookbook, where mesh pieces are layered underneath classic cardigans and chunky ’60s- and ’80s-inspired sunglasses and earrings are paired together.
Pilati’s Zara pieces are brought to life in black-in-white through a campaign shot by iconic photographer Steven Meisel and starring Gisele Bundchen alongside the designer himself.
After making a name for himself at Armani, Prada and Miu Miu, the Italian designer led YSL from 2004 to 2012 before heading to Ermenegildo Zegna to lead the couture collections and the brand’s Agnona womenswear line. He launched his unisex label, Random Identities, in 2017, and most recently designed a capsule collection for Fendi in 2023.
Scroll through the gallery above to see the full Stefano Pilati x Zara collab lookbook; below, shop our favorite picks from the collection that we expect to sell out.
Stefano Pilati x Zara Collection: Shop the Best Pieces
The Stefano Pilati x Zara collection launches on Thursday, Oct. 3 in stores and online at Zara.com, with select men’s items already available at the retailer’s website.