At the beginning of the new documentary Brunello: The Elegant Visionary, Brunello Cucinelli takes a walk through the vineyards at night, illuminated by dozens of small fires that protect the vineyards from frost. He is a man in his 70s, at ease walking in his own realm, the world he has spent decades creating, managing, and repairing.
Last Tuesday, the fashion designer took a stroll in a completely different place. He walked the star-studded red carpet surrounded by his family at the New York City Gala Screening, a special event and celebratory dinner held in advance of the documentary’s North American distribution by Blue Fox Entertainment.
Again, Brunello was a comfortable person to be around and was happy to share documentary films about his life and philosophy. There’s more to this entrepreneur than just the huge success of the pullover cashmere sweaters he started making in 1978. For decades, he purposefully built his company around his brand of humanitarian capitalism and human sustainability.
It’s a compelling story both in real life and on film. Director Giuseppi Tornatore created Brunello: The Elegant Seer, which combines documentary storytelling with reenacted flashbacks. Friends, family, colleagues and celebrities will share stories of Brunello’s accomplishments with reproductions.
“I wanted Giuseppe to take on this project because he is a poet and I believe poets are the greatest human beings on the planet,” Brunello told Variety. “Ultimately, my dream was for this film to be a testament to my life, what our lives were like, and a legacy to leave for our children, grandchildren, and all those who come after us.”
As the documentary film shows, Brunello spent his early years in a loving family, growing up on a poor rural farm in the Italian region of Umbria. He met his future wife Federica when he was a teenager, and she introduced him to the world of fashion. Over time, he has become the ‘King of Cashmere’ for his eye-catching and durable pullovers, expanding his range in both his clothing and his approach to running his company. As a young man, he overheard his father complaining bitterly about the poor treatment he received at his factory job, which became a “turning point in his life” and made him decide to live and work for human dignity.
The small village of Solomeo, where Federica lived, became Cucinelli’s home base, not only for his company, but also for him to settle down. Over the decades, he has poured much of his wealth into preserving the earthquake-damaged castle, turning it into his headquarters. It has developed parks, renovated churches, built theaters, and created a library with a collection of over 500,000 books.
It brings to life a story that Federica calls “a true fairy tale” and shows what the couple has accomplished together over 54 years. “This was meant to be, in a sense, a monument to our own lives, partly because Brunello and I met at a young age,” she told Variety. “We never imagined that one day our life story would be made into a movie.”
Brunello’s corporate environment, on the other hand, is more of a creative collective than a factory, where workers receive higher-than-average wages, make clothes in natural light, and share meals. For Brunello, business was never just about making money. It was about creating a livable work environment where his ideas for treating workers humanely could be implemented in real time.
And over the years, this business has become a true family affair. Federica runs the Brunello & Federica Cucinelli Foundation, whose daughters Carolina and Camila are vice presidents, and they know exactly how to share the Cucinelli brand with the next generation. At a gala screening in New York, Carolina wore a “very feminine dress” which she paired with a “biker jacket”. Camila’s celebratory outfit was created with the purpose of representing the company. “The concept was to feature a color-blocking tuxedo, as opposed to, say, a solid color,” she told Variety. “We felt it effectively embodied our philosophy.”
The patriarch wants the company to continue its mission after he’s gone, ideally in the village of Solomeo he adopted. “We feel a deep responsibility to our company and to the people we work with every day. This is part of the reason why we chose to remain in the village and raise our family here in Solomeo,” Carolina told Variety. “We were instilled with the concept that work is a noble pursuit, one that is not forced but driven by a great passion inherited from our parents. We have embraced this philosophy and are now weaving it into our daily work with the hope of carrying this company and its values into the future.”
Perhaps this documentary film will be the key to inspiring and persuading future generations to adhere to Brunello’s humanistic philosophy and visionary policies. “You may inherit ownership, but you never inherit actual entrepreneurship,” he allows. “Still, they really love this movie, and this whole idea of being here with our grandchildren has a kind of charm, a kind of poetry. So I wanted this movie to serve as a little living proof for both my grandchildren and my daughters. A record of what we have and how we’ve lived.”
The gala screening, held the day after Blue Fox Entertainment announced a July 24 North American theatrical release date, was also a return to the past. Cucinelli’s first store opened in the United States in 2006 in the West Village. Today, the family respects New York City as more than just a fashion mecca. “New York is a city that gives us a lot of energy and inspiration,” says Carolina. “Every time I visit, I take away so much.”
Ultimately, the founders’ hope is that “Brunello: The Benevolent Visionary” will take its rightful place alongside other major achievements, including the library, the restoration of the town, and his speech at the 2021 G20 Summit, in which he urged leaders to consider themselves “temporary guardians of creation.”
Brunello, whose name appeared in “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and inspired the entire story of “Emily in Paris,” says the message of his documentary film is not just for people with the same last name as him. Like much of his work, this is a message to share with the world.
“Replace fear with hope,” he urges moviegoers. “Dream. Look up at the sky. The stars will be your source of inspiration… Don’t feel pressured to do everything perfectly right away. Follow your dreams all your life. That’s what I want more than anything. Hold fast to this ideal and try to live as if you were interim stewards of humanity. Yes, yes, we can do it.”
Produced by Brunello Cucinelli SpA and Masifilm in collaboration with RAI Cinema, the docu-film was released in Italy on December 9 and grossed more than $1 million during its limited seven-day run.
“Brunello: A Gracious Visionary” will be released in theaters in the United States and Canada on July 24th.
