09       two is company what do renowned car manufacturers like lancia and famous textile manufacturing companies like ermenegildo zegna have in common? or, for that matter, fiat and alessi? a whole lot, both companies would say. at first sight there are only few clues leading in the right direction: a silk scarf from the lancia collection produced by the italian luxury label ermenegildo zegna. or a strikingly high percentage of lancia cars parked in front of the zegna fabric factory in trivero. and they are not just parked anywhere on the site, indeed they are mostly found on the parking lots of the zegna family. what the successful family business ermenegildo zegna and the house of fiat, parent company of lancia, have in common is mutual estimation. estimation for finest italian design and its international success. besides, both companies have in common an inextricable connection to “their” region. turin without fiat is as unthinkable as trivero without zegna. the automobile metropolis in northern italy and the small mountain village of trivero are within less than an hour’s drive of each other. definitely a good precondition for a fruitful cooperation like this one. now, why is it that lancia chooses the ermenegildo zegna brand of all brands to produce things like scarves, shawls or ties for their customers? an answer to this question can be found during a visit to the maison zegna. we’re heading for the small mountain village of trivero, located near the town of biella, which is known as a competence centre for the production of high-quality fabrics. a winding road leads up a mountain ridge belonging to the italian part of the alps. passing the last bend, the impressively huge zegna “woolmill” suddenly comes into view. but that’s not the only thing that suddenly appears. in fact, there’s also a complete small town, entirely built by order of ermenegildo zegna, the great pioneer of the family business. because “grandpa” zegna had a vision: he knew that in order to make his company the leading fabric business of the country he had to offers his employees more than just a job. therefore, during the 1930s he radically changed his home village according to his ideas: he built a school, a hospital, a swimming pool, accommodations, a hotel and various recreational facilities that were all open to his employees. at the same time, he had a quite ambitious idea: he wanted the previously deforested mountains surrounding trivero to be afforested in order to create his “oasi zegna” with a mountain road, the “panoramica zegna” leading through it. as from 1938, he planted more than 500.000 trees, employed leading engineers to build 14 km of carriage way and used the best labourers to pave it. certainly an ambitious project, but his contemporaries did not quite share his enthusiasm: why build a road leading “nowhere”, simply as an end in itself? many an industrialist back then thought the visionary to be at least of unsound mind, if not insane. they could not see any worth in the whole area of land that ermenegildo zegna had bought to afforest it for huge amounts of money. but ermenegildo zegna was convinced that one day it would not only be his employees but also tourists travelling to the alpine oasis of relaxation to stay overnight, amble through the rhododendron and hydrangea gardens, play boccie or do some skiing. a vision that today seems pretty convincing but back then was a rather daring fantasy: zegna had decided to put his idea into action at a time when not even sea tourism had been properly developed, let alone the thought of people voluntarily wanting to travel to the mountainous parts of italy. eventually, time proved him right although he himself did not live to see it. today, it’s his granddaughter laura zegna who leads the oasi fortunes: “today, we appreciate his farsightedness because now that many fabric manufacturers are in danger of being closed down or have to source out their production, we are able to offer our region new perspectives.” it’s this extraordinary sense of farsightedness that makes the house of zegna so fascinating for companies like lancia. it’s the impressive fact that in treviso business history is written everyday single day. no wonder that another italian industry pioneer is attracted by this successful example – and that lancia is proud of this partnership that constitutes more than just a simple marketing idea. and it is not surprising that this cooperation does not seem to remain the only one in the house of fiat. recently, the fiat group also entered a stylistic dialogue with alessi, another renowned name in the italian design world. stefano giovanni, one of alessi’s designers, got to “work off” on the fiat panda, not only “dressing” the coachwork in a two-colour pattern but also restyling the interior according to the ideals of the alessi designer brand. it’s gaudy colours, round shapes and a distinct touch of typical alessi irony that make the “alessi panda” stand out. synergies like this one represent the openmindedness of the fiat group and show the company’s willingness to be inspired, encouraged and fascinated by cooperation partners. martina müllner