Brunello Cucinelli on sustainability, Socrates and the pursuit of a meaningful life

Italian designer sits down with The National after his show in the Dubai desert

Designer Brunello Cucinelli says his creations are expensive but that allows 'every link in the chain to be rewarded a fair amount'. Photo: Brunello Cucinelli

“I grew up with the land as if it was a guardian,” explains Brunello Cucinelli, founder, executive chairman and creative director of the eponymous brand. “These things stayed with me: the importance of having a relationship with creation.”

In the UAE to unveil a capsule collection of abayas at a desert runway show, Cucinelli’s words about creation feel authentic. While many designers like to fabricate a connection to nature, for him this is no act. The son of a farmer, Cucinelli grew up in rural Italy. “We had no electricity, no running water,” he explains. Today he stands a world away from these humble beginnings, as the head of a luxury empire that spans menswear, womenswear and accessories. In November, Forbes magazine estimated that empire to be worth $3.5 billion.

By his own admission, his journey into fashion has not been conventional. He had no connections and dropped out of school to hang out with students at his local cafe. That was a bit of luck, as they introduced him to the teachings of philosophers such as Saint Benedict, Plato and Socrates. This was to shape his life in multiple ways. “I did come to discover that there is an intelligence that comes from education, and another that stems directly from what we see. I spent the years from age 15 to 25 at the local cafe instead of at school. That was my university of life. These were 10 great years.”

It sparked an insatiable thirst for knowledge that has never ebbed. “For the rest of my life, I have been studying the great thinkers and they gave me everything,” says the designer. He explains that life on a farm was difficult but offered a simple clarity. “The Greek philosopher and poet Xenophanes said that 'everything comes from the earth'. We lived in harmony with creation and the first bale of grain we harvested went to the community. My grandfather would cross himself and then walk it into town. Not the last bale, but the first,” he insists. “This is a huge difference.”

Family life was later rocked by a relocation to the city for work. “When I was 15, my father took up a job in a factory. He did not complain about the low wages, but he was subject to constant humiliation. I could see it in his eyes.”

Seeing his father, and later his siblings, helpless to the insults heaped upon them had a profound effect on the young Cucinelli. "They were always treated badly. And why should you do that?” It seems to be a question that has followed him his whole life. Cucinelli determined early on that he would only treat people with dignity and respect. “I said to myself: I don’t know what I will do, but I am sure that whatever becomes of me, I will do it to endorse the small economic dignity of the human being.”

Taught to sew by his mother, Cucinelli was just 25 when he released his first collection of cashmere jumpers, which were fine-gauge enough to slip under a jacket and in eye-catching pale yellows and rust browns. Forty-six years later, the name Cucinelli is now synonymous with light-as-air cashmere, silk, leather and linen clothes that carry a rich, elegant aesthetic. The palette encompasses neutrals, earthy tones and sophisticated metallics as well as crisp blues and pinstripes. Only recently did Cucinelli introduce black into its collections.

True to his teenage pledge, Cucinelli has built an empire hand in hand with his staff. Today he employs close to 1,300 people. “My labourers make a bit more money than the average on the market. No parent recommends their child to take up a job in factory work, so I offer a nice workplace, making fair money,” he says. Paid roughly 20 per cent above the going wage, his staff also have a working day that ends at 5.30pm and are banned from responding to work matters outside office hours. He respects his employees' time and right to a family life.

A few days before our meeting, Cucinelli was in New York to receive the John B Fairchild Award, in recognition of what he describes as his company’s policy of “human sustainability” that enshrines dignity and fairness in working practices. It was far from his first awards ceremony. In 2010 the Italian president awarded him the Knight of Labour honour, while in 2012 he received an honorary degree in philosophy and ethics of human relations from the University of Perugia. In 2017, the German Kiel Institute recognised that Cucinelli conducted himself as an “honourable merchant”, and in 2018, in recognition of his commitment to “Made in Italy”, Cucinelli was made a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In October 2021 he was even invited to address the G20 in Rome on “humanistic capitalism and human sustainability”. Not bad going for a high school dropout brought up on a farm.

While all the accolades are cherished, he admits those that recognise his fairness carry an added poignancy. “This is the part that moves me, as my father always repeated to me ’you must be a good man’.”

As part of his philosophy, he has never been afraid to place a high value on the things he creates. “It's true that we are expensive,” admits Cucinelli, “but the profit that we make is just normal because I wanted every link in the chain to be rewarded a fair amount. I want to make a fair profit as an entrepreneur because you need to have a profit accompanied by an act of giving back. I am an Italian, I want my factory to be in Italy, and the profit should benefit the next generation.”

The idea of fair profit is something he mentions several times. As the man driving the company he has no qualms about it – he works hard and carries all of the risk – yet he is adamant that those who work with him must also share in the benefit. “You know, the consumer is beginning to understand that some companies are making crazy profits. There is a healthy awareness now and not just in fashion. When you sell or buy something, you should do it in a fair way.” Regarding some prominent brands having to mitigate the damage caused by revelations splashed all over the internet about price hiking, he hopes this becomes a reason for atonement. “It's a very difficult moment for the brands because now they have to catch up with the image that they've been projecting,” he says.

In 1985, Cucinelli made the medieval hamlet of Solomeo – close to where he grew up – the family and company headquarters. He has built a theatre and amphitheatre, restored buildings and founded the School of High Contemporary Crafts, to help ensure precious skill sets of tailoring, knitting, sewing and even masonry and farming are preserved while training the next generation of artisans. “We hope to still be here in 100, 200, 300 years,” he explains. With this in mind, he has erected a bust of John Ruskin, the British writer, artist, and philanthropist, in the middle of the village. It is a nod to Ruskin's famous quote: “When we build, let us think that we build for ever. Let it not be for present delight, nor for present use alone; let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for.” Words to live by.