Agnona | Classic Wide-Leg Trousers, Lookbook Overview
Agnona ranks in my top three favorite cashmere brands. Not only is the cashmere quality excellent, but the designs are also beautiful and have their own distinctive style (I especially recommend the older collections; in recent years, due to a change in creative director, the quality has declined, particularly in womenswear, so you need to be selective).
Since it's a cashmere brand, the Agnona brand introduction mainly focused on men's and women's cashmere coats and sweaters. However, looking back now, I'm surprised that the article also introduced Agnona's wide-leg pants development history, which is when I discovered Agnona's distinctive pant style.
From left to right: Agnona 2011, 2012, 2013 Spring
Agnona 2019 AW
Agnona 2025 Spring
If we say Fabiana Filippi's signature pant style before rebranding was the carrot-shaped cropped pants, and Brunello Cucinelli's signature style is the cool cargo pants, then Agnona's would be the floor-length wide-leg pants.
Agnona's pants are generally released in the Spring season, mostly made of wool, linen, and silk (though in the past 1-2 years, more are viscose and polyester blends, showing some cost-cutting measures) and other spring/summer fabrics. During Simon Holloway's design peak for Agnona in 2019, there were several pairs of thicker cashmere pants for fall/winter. After the new creative director Stefano Aimone took over in 2021, there has been more focus on spring/summer collections.
In part 01 of this article, I'll first introduce the differences in Agnona's designs during these two creative directors' periods, supplementing content I overlooked when writing about Agnona. Part 02 will introduce Agnona's men's and women's pants styles from the official website. In part 03, I'll introduce my newly purchased Agnona wide-leg pants, which are the white pants I'm wearing in this set of photos.
01
Simon Holloway previously worked as a designer for Hogan, Ralph Lauren, and Jimmy Choo. From 2015 to 2020, he was responsible for Agnona's designs, and in 2023, he became the creative director of Dunhill.
Since 2021, Stefano Aimone has been the creative director for Agnona's RTW. Starting in 2021, the Lookbook is only published on the official website, whereas previously, womenswear was updated on WWD and Vogue. Additionally, in 2000, Agnona was acquired by Zegna and stopped producing menswear, but since 2020, they have also focused on menswear design (click the green text for more brand information).
I recommend only looking at Agnona's FW (Fall/Winter) collections, as it is a cashmere brand that excels in making fall/winter cashmere coats, scarves, and sweaters.
In my opinion, the best season during Simon Holloway's tenure as creative director was Agnona Fall 2019. This is the best season I've seen from Agnona from 2009 to 2025, and it best reflects Agnona's characteristics as a cashmere brand. Many styles have a touch of Hermès.
The relaxed, draping cashmere wide-leg pants and fine, ultra-thin, slightly transparent cashmere base layers, along with well-fitted cashmere suits and coats with smooth silhouettes.
The 2019 fur capes and coats, paired with thin belts to accentuate the waistline, are a design detail that Fabiana Filippi loved to use during the "small BC" period before 2022. It's quite a pity for a brand; after the Prada Group's intervention, the cashmere brand turned into an ordinary minimalist brand, but the prices remain at cashmere brand levels.
Layered vests with belts to define the waistline - this is a design I also really like, and Fabiana Filippi also loves to use it.
The vest layering with waist-cinching belts from over 10 years ago looked like this below. Back then, skinny pants, office pencil skirts, and crisp, medium to short jackets were popular, unlike the loose, relaxed styles of today. Colors also weren't as focused on single, pure tones as they are now. Below is Fabiana Filippi 2013:
Belt pairing has always been a design detail for Agnona. From left to right are Agnona ready-to-wear from 2009 and 2014. They have always liked using belts, whether tied directly on cashmere jackets and coats or on layered vests underneath.
The colors and designs from multiple shows between 2014-2017 were painfully unattractive, with only occasional nice pieces. It wasn't until after 2018 that they returned to their original natural color palette, and the sense of luxury improved. By 2020, with the addition of menswear, the quality of womenswear became somewhat unstable. This was also Simon Holloway's last season at Agnona. During Simonetta Holloway's period, there was a gradual emphasis on using natural materials, such as organic cotton, and they also began using recycled materials in designs.
In 2020, Zegna sold Agnona to his son-in-law. Under the new creative director Stefano Aimone, womenswear began to lean towards modern minimalist quiet luxury, with many simple straight-line designs. There was less focus on natural materials, with synthetic polyester being used in non-core categories like pants, and womenswear was priced higher than menswear. Starting from FW 2021, Agnona stopped doing runway shows and began shooting lookbooks.
From 2021-2023, there was a shift towards menswear design, with womenswear and female models appearing very boyish, featuring many aviator jackets that men like, and clothing with mostly straight lines. If you covered the model's face, you couldn't even tell their gender.
Agnona FW 2022 was the most obviously boyish season, with clothes suitable for both men and women.
By FW 2023, some gender differentiation began to appear, with sock boots, short skirts, fur, and long coats. Men's cashmere designs also became more structured, with more consistent color pairings. It seems every new designer needs 2-3 years to adjust. Agnona's transformation was better than Fabiana Filippi's; at least they maintained the cashmere materials and Agnona's longstanding various scarves and belt accessories.
Agnona Winter 2024 womenswear design improved as well, with styles reminiscent of The Row and Khaite.
Menswear also began to stabilize. At this level, Agnona's men's and women's styling and design are worth paying attention to in these years, as the sense of luxury and old money style is improving.
SS 2025, the latest season, sees the quantity of womenswear gradually increasing, unlike the scarcity in 2021 and 2022. Spring/summer collections are now combined with cashmere sweaters rather than just silk and linen.
Agnona's expertise in dyeing techniques is also being showcased, with some special colors appearing. Due to their consistent commitment to fabrics, the clothes have a visible lustrous quality and texture.
The four women's outfits below also feature fabrics with a natural sheen - flat where they should be flat, creased where they should be creased, with high-quality fabric textures. The styles also follow the loose, wide-leg fashion trend of the last two years.
Overall, Agnona is worth continuing to follow. The styles from 2019-2020 are obviously different from 2024, but they still retain some core elements of the brand. Many of Agnona's lookbook styles aren't available on the official website, and in China, the only purchasing channel is SKP.
Agnona cashmere is priced in the luxury tier (a regular thickness cashmere sweater is around 10,000 RMB, slightly thicker ones range from 15,000 to 20,000 RMB, but currently, the official website mainly offers ultra-thin cashmere sweaters with special craftsmanship for around 8,000 RMB). The brand's recognition is still relatively small, which may be why not many consumers are willing to pay for it yet. But in terms of craftsmanship, design, and cashmere quality, I think it's very worth it and have a good impression of the brand.
02
Agnona's womenswear is priced higher than menswear. For the same 100% linen pants of similar thickness, women's versions cost between $1000-1400, while men's versions are priced at $700-800. Agnona has limited marketing and distribution channels both domestically and internationally, and they don't produce many new styles each year. It's difficult to find them on other e-commerce platforms, so I'll limit this discussion to the 6-7 pant items currently on their official website.
Perhaps because it's summer, men's pants are primarily made of linen, while women's pants, besides linen, surprisingly include many made from polyester, viscose, acrylic, and other synthetic materials - and they're twice as expensive as pure linen ones. You can't find any wool, silk, or cashmere materials on the official website; those are only available as older styles on Farfetch. The Agnona pants I bought myself were also from previous years when there were still many natural materials like wool and silk. In the last year or two, I don't know what happened, but the quality has been declining.
Let's talk about men's pants first. Agnona started making menswear in the last 3-4 years. The men's pants all have a more fitted curved straight-leg style that flatters the leg shape. I think they look great - why don't they make this pant style for women?
One 100% linen series is this dress pant style, available in 2 colors:
Another is a slightly cheaper linen track pant series. Both are similar curved straight-leg pants:
The track pants come in 3 colors:
Before discussing women's pants, let me criticize the shorts for both men and women. Although shorts are not Agnona's signature or main products, I'll mention them because after the change in creative director, Agnona's womenswear has become somewhat masculinized. You can see this in the two shorts below - the women's shorts are more straight-lined:
The same color 100% linen fabric was used to make both men's curved pants and women's shorts. When compared, the men's pants look better. Since the designer change in 2021 and the addition of menswear, I feel that the quality of womenswear has declined, to the point where it can't even match the menswear:
Agnona womenswear's signature pant style is the straight wide-leg pants below. Unfortunately, previous years' styles had better materials, including wool and silk. The two styles below are older Farfetch styles; new styles don't have such good materials:
The style is still Agnona's classic straight wide-leg pants for women, but the new styles have downgraded materials - all synthetic fibers - and yet they're more expensive:
These 3 pants are all 50% VI (viscose) 43% SE (polyester) - priced at just over $2000:
52% VI 48% AC Acrylic (synthetic wool) $1300. Even wool has been replaced with synthetic wool. My wool and silk pants also cost around $1300-1400. Agnona's core women's pants are priced around $1300, with cheaper options ranging from $800 to $1000. The synthetic ones above are still so expensive - I suspect they're just trying to cash in.
100% linen is actually cheaper - thinner ones at $1000, thicker linen at $1400. See? They're several hundred dollars more expensive than the men's pants above:
Agnona women's pants are mainly straight wide-leg styles. The thicker 100% linen pants are shown below. This rope belt is Agnona's only belt design:
Agnona also has cropped pants and flared pants for women, but these aren't their signature styles, so I'll just mention them briefly. Plus, the materials aren't good: 52% CO (Cotton) and 48% PA (Polyamide) or SE (Polyester):
03
Now let me talk about these straight-leg pants made of 88% wool and 12% silk blend. I was immediately attracted by the feel, thickness, and texture. The wool itself is quite fine, and with the addition of silk, it's not scratchy at all and doesn't attract lint. They're from the autumn/winter (AW) collection, so they're quite substantial - thick enough to wear in winter with cashmere long johns underneath. However, because I'm a bit overweight, the waistband fits just right, and I wouldn't be able to wear these pants with anything additional underneath.
I'm 158cm, 58kg, with a 68cm waist, and I bought an Italian size 38 (when buying European brand clothes, I generally use Italian sizing, while for American and Japanese brands I use American sizing). If these were Brunello Cucinelli size 38, I could wear them, but for Akris I would need a size 40.
What really moves me about wearing these pants is when I look down while riding my bicycle and see my beautiful new pants - not simply ordinary solid colors that I've become numb to, but a cream white and straw-colored mix with a knitted texture pattern. From afar, you notice the draping silhouette; up close, you see the textural details.
Agnona is at least in a cost-cutting phase when it comes to pants materials, and the brand is currently struggling with development. However, all their product categories are still Made in Italy.
The pocket and seam lining fabric is 50% cotton, 50% modal fiber. Previously, the lining fabrics were better than what is now used in Agnona's high-priced pants.
Look at the various seam details below - they're very neat and clean:
Agnona's metal accessories are very solid, whether they're the logo-bearing ones or zippers - they're all smooth and substantial. The only brand I've encountered with a similar zipper quality is The Row.
Since European and American brands generally make pants longer, I had the hems shortened by 10cm at a shopping mall tailor. You can see that the average tailor's stitching is like the one on the right, but good brands stitch on the inner layer, connected with very fine white thread. Fortunately, these are wide-leg pants that gather at the bottom, so it doesn't make much difference.
When wearing regular flat shoes like Onitsuka Tiger or Toteme, they're about 1cm from dragging on the ground, while with Brunello Cucinelli Sneakers, there's a 2-3cm gap. I can go to the bathroom without worrying about them getting dirty.
These types of wide-leg pants should be a bit longer so that they bunch up slightly, which looks better. These pants have a nice shape from both front and back.
I really love these pants. Last week in Beijing, the strong wind made the wide-leg pants flutter, adding an extra dimension to the experience. Wearing these pants, even my short legs love to bounce and jump more.
I also made an Youtube video specifically to introduce these Agnona pants.
WeChat: pamperherself
