Review of Zegna “Airplane Mode” 2024 Ad Campaign
Zegna soars into luxury with its latest footwear-forward campaign. Titled “Airplane Mode,” the campaign highlights the latest edition of the brand’s Triplestitch Secondskin shoe.
Leaning into the telling statistic that the luxury leisurewear shoe is already the most-worn shoe on private jets, the imagery exudes the commanding calm of relaxing in the cabin at cruising altitude (or at least, what we imagine it might feel like). A mark of ownership is subtly threaded throughout the simple imagery through the presence of the brand’s signature, warmly elegant color scheme.
While the campaign concept may be in one sense a smart play to the love of luxury and exclusivity held by its customers, the private jet narrative does seem antithetical to another of Zegna’s professed values: sustainability. A well-known focal point for discourse around individual and systemic contributions to pollution, private jets are reported to be up to 14 times more polluting per passenger than commercial planes, and just one percent of people are responsible for 50 percent of global aviation emissions. If Zegna doesn’t want customers who share a commitment to sustainability to see through its claim to environmental stewardship as no more than a mere show, it probably shouldn’t be glorifying such irresponsible indulgences.
