Cucinelli: The Philosopher Billionaire

TORONTO – While known as the King of Cashmere for his “quiet luxury” clothing empire, Brunello Cucinelli’s 5-billion-dollar net worth doesn’t preclude a love of books and philosophy. The man who champions “humanistic capitalism” doesn’t simply espouse it to brand build. Cucinelli has a book collection of over 60,000 novels and works, some of which were photographed for the poster of his new documentary Brunello: The Gracious Visionary.

Directed by Academy Award winner Giuseppe Tornatore (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso), the two-hour documentary covers Cucinelli’s upbringing in a rural farming family near Perugia. From a simple childhood without running water or electricity to the founding of his company in 1978, the film reconstructs several scenes from the fashion designer’s past.

At the age of 25, Cucinelli focused on a single product category to launch his clothing line: coloured cashmere sweaters. His initial investment in 1978 procured him enough neutral coloured yarn for the production of 60 sweaters. He then employed an expert to dye his prototypes vibrant colours. “I was seeking perfection for one single thing. I was the man with the sweaters, the cashmere guy,” says Cucinelli. “My hope was that it would be modern, innovative.

From that one entrepreneurial hunch, the Italian designer from small-town Umbria wound up cementing himself as one of the world’s most in-demand fashion moguls. Today his business covers both men’s and women’s collections, ranging from fine tailoring and luxury casual wear to footwear and accessories. Interestingly, Brunello’s outlook on business is guided by the “esteemed wisdom” of ancient poets and philosophers. Beyond earning money, he views his company and his life’s work as a means to elevate humanity. To Cucinelli, humanistic capitalism means improving the human condition through business. To his employees, it means a fair stipend, a space to be creative and having an inspiring work environment.

Speaking at a press conference following the premiere at Cinecittà, Director Giuseppe Tornatore explained that the documentary had taken two years to film and one to edit. But confessed he wasn’t totally convinced of the project. “When Brunello approached me about doing this, I told him docs about people who haven’t passed away don’t really work. They’re too lenient”.

Cucinelli agreed, explained Tornatore. “But he did not want that…he became like a dead person. He only saw the whole thing when it was done”. In a world oversaturated by vapid social media influencers and bad actors in the public sphere, a billionaire business mogul who prizes his late uncle’s copy of Plato’s Phaedrus – as much as his accumulated wealth – is a welcomed departure.

“From those pages was born my desire to collect, read, and preserve books, and my passion for them has fueled in me a great curiosity and thirst for knowledge”. A thirst that AI Chatbots and Google too often rob from the human experience.

Brunello: The Gracious Visionary opens in Italian theatres on December 9th and in North America in March 2026.

Images courtesy of Rai Cinema