Women's Wear Daily sat down with the lord of the cashmere plains, Brunello Cucinelli, and came out with one of the most extensive profiles on the Italian designer to date. It's extremely long and detailed, though it could probably be summed up in five words: Cucinelli is fucking killing it. Editors don't usually let that slide unfortunately. So, Luisa Zargani's look into Cucinelli's self-made, authentically Italian empire is quite vast.
Brunello Cucinelli generates sales of $428 million per year, is stocked in more than 60 countries around the world and the company's recent IPO is one of Italy's most successful. But that isn't what sets Cucinelli apart. No, it's his approach to business that makes the brand worth replicating. By now, many of us are aware of his efforts to completely refurbish the village of Solomeo, Italy, where his factory is located. The breadth of this project is incredibly immense and has taken over 30 years. As a result of Cucinelli's efforts, Solomeo has become a self-sustaining ecosystem complete with schools that teach the art of clothing production to the select few students who are admitted—fewer than 50 make the cut out of 400 that apply each year—to possibly become employed at Cucinelli.
His factory has doubled in sized recently and now houses 820 employees, a number which has also doubled in the past five years. It's Cucinelli's mentality toward labor that puts him a rung above the competition. He pays his workers roughly 20% more than any other factory, allots them a 90 minute lunch break and provides a beautiful, rustic environment to work in. If you haven't seen photos of the area, it's goddamn beautiful. He says, "I always thought the work should be done in a healthy and pleasant environment, with better human relationships. I can’t ease the weight of the job, which is often repetitive, but I can help with nice big windows for a beautiful view and to see the light outside." What. A. Fucking. Legend.
Honestly, Brunello's always been more philosopher than clothing designer. He believes in treating his employees the right way and does so. Damn, no one does it like Cuci.
