Brunello Cucinelli

Brunello Cucinelli

Brunello Cucinelli is known as the "King of Knitwear" for a reason - this Italian designer and entrepreneur literally breathed a second life into cashmere. From its inception until today, the brand's main products are cashmere sweaters and other knitwear. The wool (or rather, the undercoat of special cashmere goats and vicuña) for them is supplied directly from Mongolia, Tibet, the Gobi Desert and Latin America. And the founder of the brand personally goes to purchase raw materials at least twice a year! Production and headquarters are located in the heart of Italy - in the village of Solomeo, in Umbria. Today it is one of the best premium knitwear brands available in the Domino online store.

Unique Umbrian knitwear is the hallmark of Brunello Cucinelli

It's impossible to say that no one in Italy wore cashmere before Brunello. What's more, Umbria - the entrepreneur's home region - was renowned for producing expensive knitwear. But this noble material was mostly dyed in dull greys, browns and blacks, and worn by respectable Italian gentlemen.

Brunello did what no one else had figured out - he added color! At first there were only three colors in the collection, but today the brand's palette includes more than 700 shades of cashmere. Why knitwear? According to Cuccinelli himself, he wanted to create durable things that could be passed on as heirlooms. After all, who would even throw away an old cashmere sweater? The maestro's efforts have been appreciated not only by high-end clothing fans, but also by international critics - in 2003, Cuccinelli was named "the best knitwear creator of our time.

Brunello Cucinelli's clothes justify their price, and it's not just about premium quality raw materials. The brand is characterized by attention to the smallest detail:

• Manual cutting and part of the sewing work (about 50%).
• Creating original knitted fabrics with the addition of fur, leather, metallized threads, etc. By the way, Brunello Cucinelli originals are not only durable, but also very light - the thickness of cashmere fiber is only 14.5 microns (while other brands use yarn 16-16.5 microns).
• The production uses expensive, mostly natural materials - cashmere, cotton, leather, suede, linen, fur.
• Small batches of products to satisfy the customers' desire for individuality.
• Unique quality control - the official Brunello Cucinelli website says that each new model is produced as a trial batch, which is scrutinized in the brand's laboratory. In addition, Brunello Cucinelli employees receive things from the trial batches as a gift, and then make a report. In it they tell in detail whether the item was comfortable to wear, how much it was washed and whether it retained its original appearance. If they find any disadvantages in the model, it is sent for revision.

"Dream of Solomeo": the history of the Brunello Cucinelli brand

Born into a poor family in one of Italy's provinces, Brunello Cucinelli was able to turn his love of fashion into a successful business. The first "collection" came out in 1977 in an old knitwear factory with an area of only 40 square meters. It included only 5 models of sweaters made of bright cashmere - to create the first batch, it took about $ 500 and about 20 kg of wool, which Brunello borrowed from friends. All the pieces were sold - Cuccinelli took them himself to a fair in South Tyrol.

After a year Brunello bought a small cashmere factory, and in the 1980s the entrepreneur and his family moved to the Umbrian village of Solomeo, buying a fourteenth-century castle. After restoration this very castle became in 1987 the head office, design office and production facilities of Brunello Cucinelli. And even appeared on the brand's logo! As Brunello himself liked to say, beautiful things could be born only in such beautiful places. Picturesque vineyards and olive groves, medieval streets where the bells used to ring, and its own artisan school - today the spirit of Italian antiquity literally reigns here.

By the end of the 1980s, orders for cashmere sweaters were coming not only from the Italian regions, but also from Germany and even the United States. In 1994, the first models of men's sweaters appeared in Brunello Cucinelli's catalog and the brand's first boutique was opened. Six years later, the company began to produce full-fledged collections consisting of sweaters, T-shirts, jackets, coats and suits. By 2000, Cuccinelli had acquired and reconstructed another factory near Solomeo.

The designer had a special relationship with this town. Firstly, Brunello's wife was from the area. Secondly, as part of his Project for Beauty project, Cuccinelli created orchards and parks, a stadium and canteen for the brand's staff, a bakery and a theater on the site of the abandoned Solomeo industrial zone. He didn't just build his business here, he created the perfect environment for a return to "true craftsmanship". The company is indeed famous for its impeccable organization of work - even in the warehouses the height of shelving does not exceed 150 cm, so as not to block the workers picturesque views behind the panoramic windows. By the way, today the brand employs about 1,000 people, more than a quarter of whom are local Solomeo residents.

Brands by Brunello Cucinelli at Domino

To buy Brunello Cucinelli is to experience what true "quiet luxury in the Italian way" is all about. Brunello Cucinelli's new collections include women's, men's and children's clothing for every season, as well as footwear, accessories and interior design. Cucinelli traditionally produces its models in small batches to maintain its elitist status.

Looking at the latest collections of Brunello Cucinelli in Kiev, we can highlight the designer's favorite trends:

• Hits of sales - monochrome cashmere sweaters and sweaters with minimal or no decoration. If before 2016 the brand preferred bright colors, today on the website of Brunello Cunchinelli there is a wide palette of neutral pastel shades. It was in 2016 that the brand released its first black cashmere sweater.
• Voluminous women's and men's cardigans with patterns or textured surfaces.
• Cotton, linen and blended fabric pants with small pleats at the waistband.
• Classical jackets and blazers with a delicate shine. By the way, it is the brand's travel blazer made of blended fabric that is a raving success among Silicon Valley investors - in one of the articles The Wall Street Journal called this model "the uniform for the meetings of the supervisory board."
• Lightweight and insulated vests.

Luxury Brunello Cucinelli clothing is a story about European elegance and intelligence, as well as a love of tradition. Each model is versatile and easy to combine with other pieces - Brunello has repeatedly confessed his love of layered looks. As decades ago, knitwear is considered the brand's favorite, but the collections also include other fabrics, from silk to natural nappa leather.

Buy original Brunello Cucinelli items in Ukraine in Domino boutiques in Kiev and Odessa, as well as in the online store with delivery across the country. The key group of goods remains knitted pullovers and long and short sleeve sweaters, as well as other woolen products (from skirts to coats). In recent years, the brand has also produced clothing for ski vacations (the Mountain line includes down jackets, boots, pants, etc.).