In 1910, a highly accomplished and virtuosic tailor by the name of Ermenegildo Zegna founded his own clothing company in Italy. Thanks to fine craftsmanship, Zegna gained a loyal following of people who paid top dollar for his hand-tailored wool suits. Twenty years later, Zegna was a major operation employing more than a thousand people. The suits first became available in the United States in the late 1930s but did not sell tremendously well due to the Great Depression.

Ermenegildo's sons were recruited to join the family business and eventually took over full-time in 1966. The two Zegna sons decided to dispense with the tailor-only tradition and set up ready-to-wear lines in 1968. These off-the-shelf Zegna suits sold enormously well, and the brothers were able to open factory after factory starting in Italy and then on to Spain, Greece, and Switzerland.

By the turn of the millennium, Zegna boasted more than 300 retail outlets around the globe. You can find Zegna boutiques in more than a dozen countries, and the company now boasts 4,500 plus workers. In addition to manufacturing suits, many of which are still made-to-measure, Zegna produces sportswear, neckties, shirts, and a host of men's accessories.

All told, the company annually sells approximately 2,500 suits and does brisk business in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The highest line of Zegna suits is labeled as couture but budget shoppers can still find sporty suits under the Z Zegna line at very reasonable prices.