Luxury brand Zegna reports UAE, ME sales bouncing back

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Luxury brand Zegna reports UAE and Middle East sales bouncing back

Editorial Team

May 18, 2026

Photo: Creative Commons/Kate Trysh/pexels

DUBAI,— Italian luxury menswear group Ermenegildo Zegna has seen a rebound in Middle East sales in recent weeks after disruption tied to the Iran conflict, with a full recovery expected after summer, the company’s executive chairman said, according to Reuters.

Speaking at a Financial Times luxury summit, Gildo Zegna told reporters the blow to Middle East sales had been “substantial” but “less brutal” than the company had feared.

Zegna, whose largest store in the world sits inside Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates, saw sales drop in March and into the first part of April, he said.

Reuters reported in April that foot traffic at Dubai Mall fell 50 percent in March compared with a year earlier.

“It’s picking up,” Zegna said, noting that visitor numbers remained below normal levels but were trending in a positive direction.

He said the company hoped conditions would normalize once the summer period passed, calling the overall impact milder than initially feared.

Earlier in the year, Zegna transitioned out of the chief executive role at the family business to serve as executive chairman.

Leadership of the Zegna brand passed to his two children, who now hold joint responsibility at the top, while Gianluca Tagliabue, previously chief operating and financial officer, was promoted to group chief executive.

Zegna said the shift had gone smoothly and added he would only give up his chairman role “when I’m buried.”

He ruled out any acquisitions for the group, which went public in New York in December 2021, and said the Zegna brand would not move into womenswear.

In the United States, where sales had grown at a double-digit rate for two straight years, business is now in line with last year.

Europe is “doing pretty well,” Zegna said, while China is “slowly coming back,” adding that the market remains worthwhile despite being different from what it once was.

(With files from Reuters)