Brunello Cucinelli was born into an Italian peasant family in Castel Rigone. In 1978, he set up a small company and captivated the market with his idea of dying cashmere. As a boy, after witnessing his father’s hardships at work, he developed his dream to promote a concept of work that ensured moral and economic human dignity. This is a key element to understand his personality and the success of his business, which Mr. Cucinelli considers not only as a wealth-generating entity, but also as a framework to develop and nurture his dream of a capitalism that enhances the human person, “Humanistic Capitalism”.
 
In 1982, he moved to Solomeo and established his corporate headquarters. The increasingly international market welcomed his Italian-made products and enabled him to implement his ideals. Mr. Cucinelli set out to create a venue for culture and art in Solomeo, the Forum of the Arts. In addition to building a library, gymnasium, amphitheater, and theater, he established a specialized school to ensure craftsmanship is preserved and passed on to future generations. Feeling a duty to restore the dignity of the land, Mr. Cucinelli created three huge parks at the foot of the Solomeo hill, an initiative supported by the Brunello and Federica Cucinelli Foundation.

He has received a number of national and international recognitions. The most prestigious honors have been for his humane working environment, including the nomination to Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Industry), assigned by the Italian President in 2010. In 2017, he received the Global Economy Prize for the World Economy from the Kiel Institute, and the following year he was nominated to Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic). In September 2021, he received British GQ’s Designer of the Year award, and in October of the same year, Mr. Cucinelli participated in the G20 Rome Summit to elucidate his idea of “Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability” to the world leaders.