From My Files

Monday, 13 October 2014

Brunello Cucinelli...............

Do you know when you read a small tidbit about someone or something it piques your interest and you have to know more? Well that is what happened when I read about the "12 Things Brunello Cucinelli Can't Live Without" in this month's Elle Decor magazine.

Brunello is an Italian sportswear designer and has created a very successful luxury brand in a small town in Italy called Solomeo. It started when this farmer (Brunello) thought he might create a cashmere sweater that was hand-stitched by the local residents. His first order was for 53 sweaters and in 2010 he sold over a million of them. Along the way, Brunello invested his time, money and love into this hilltop village and its people. He restored a castle, which houses the factory where his employees work and an antique farmhouse where he and his employees enjoy gourmet lunches.

Brunello has about 600 employees, more than the 400 residents of the village. He is also responsible for the restoration of the town's church, main square, recreation centre, theatre and most recently has started a soccer team. Cucinelli says that he saw his father go from a happy farmer to a dispirited factory worker and says that, "I've dreamed of creating useful work for an important objective. I felt that profit for profit's sake was not enough, and that there had to be a higher, collective purpose." Brunello calls this "ethical capitalism" and it is his corporate philosophy to "give business a meaning that goes beyond profit and reinvesting to improve the lives of workers, to enhance and restore beauty of the world."

Very inspiring indeed.