Agnona, in a Different Key

Agnona has always spoken in fabric. Its identity is rooted in quiet craft rather than spectacle - precise tailoring, soft materials, and a resistance to noise. For decades, the Italian house has let texture and its textiles speak louder than trends. It was quiet luxury before quiet luxury became a thing. And this past weekend, the brand explored another kind of language. One you don’t wear, but feel: music.  

Founded in 1953 in the Piedmontese town of Borgosesia, Agnona quickly established itself as a textile innovator, supplying fabrics to houses like Balenciaga and Dior with luxury wool and cashmere, long before stepping into womenswear in the ‘70s. Today, under creative director Stefano Aimone, Agnona has been exploring what that feeling looks like in the present. The shift hasn’t been loud, but intentional - showcasing how the brand is drawn to forms of expression that sits beyond the seams.  

On 24th May, during Piano City Milano, Agnona hosted pianist and composer Sofi Paez inside its new Milan headquarters. It wasn’t a product launch, nor a campaign reveal, just a celebration of music to welcome their audience into their new Milanese space. Which, for a brand like Agnona, feels more honest than any runway show. It’s not typical fashion PR, and that’s the point.

This isn’t the brand’s first time on the cultural stage; last year it hosted pianist Francesco Taskayali and crystal bowls player Larissa Giers. But this time, the tone shifts. Sofi Paez’s music moves between classical control and ambient drift, a tension that mirrors Agnona’s own balance between heritage and experimentation. Music, for the brand, is just another kind of material, even if it can’t be touched.  

At the heart of this unexpected collaboration is a shared instinct to honour tradition without being bound to it. Both Agnona and Sofi Paez work from a place of craft and refinement, but neither is interested in nostalgia. Paez’s music drifts between classical structure and contemporary soundscapes - precise, instinctive, and full of quiet tension. There’s control, but also tension. A push and pull between past and present that mirrors Agnona’s own language of contrast. If Agnona speaks in texture, Paez speaks in tone. Both are interested in what happens when things that don’t usually pair together are layered, gently, until they do.