Brunello Cucinelli has described Solomeo as “the hamlet of cashmere and harmony in Umbria,” and the center of his “family, entrepreneurial, and spiritual life.” On Tuesday, March 19, we visited Solomeo – a small medieval town of which Cucinelli reportedly owns about 80%, a number confirmed by one of his town bodyguards. Cucinelli has slowly purchased and revamped the small grassy town to fit his very curated aesthetic of quiet luxury. At the bottom of a small mountain within Solomeo sits the only public-facing factory owned by Cucinelli. We were given a tour of the factory and granted access to the small mountaintop which Cucinelli claims as a refuge for himself, his family, and his employees. The only tourism allowed within Solomeo is overseen by Cucinelli’s staff, which gave the tour an aura of concealment. The town was eerily empty except for our group, the bodyguard assigned to us, and the shopkeepers (who also work for Cucinelli). In the remainder of this blog post I would like to give an idea of the visual experience of a walking tour of the factory and Solomeo. I will provide a series of pictures with captions explaining their significance and purpose within the space. For a more in-depth understanding of Cucinelli as a fashion icon, you can read about the origins of his brand here.
English translation: “the monuments and places of this ancient village of Solomeo have already been damaged by the slow passage of time – Brunello Cucinelli’s humanistic undertaking – restore, preserve, embellish to give to the men of tomorrow in the spirit of the Umbrian mother earth.”English translation: “the written word taught me to listen to the human voice.”This photo is displayed over the display rack for Cucinelli’s most recent collection. The photo, as explained by our tour guide, is Brunello Cucinelli with the Mongolian community that collects all the cashmere he uses in his clothing. It is unclear how much they are compensated for their work, but our tour guide described the business relationship as mutualistic.These large bins of cashmere were displayed throughout the factory as a reminder to tourists and workers of the fine materials used in every cashmere item. However, our tour guide also mentioned that every goat only produces 200-250 grams of cashmere, which means the Chinese and Mongolian communities providing this cashmere must be caring for an exponential amount of animals.This is a workroom in the public-facing Cucinelli factory in Solomeo. This factory is mainly comprised of students working to become the next generation of Cucinelli’s artisans. Above their workstations hangs giant prints of famous artwork. This photo includes the Pietà by Michelangelo.This is a close-up of one of the cashmere knitted garments flagged during the proofing process in Cucinelli’s factory. We spoke to one of the women checking these garments, who works above a lighted table, stretching each portion to check for mistakes or flaws. In this piece, there is a slight pull in the knitting, which is marked with a yellow sticker and will soon be sent to another station for mending.This picture shows the variety of artwork displayed in the Cucinelli factory. When asked the purpose of this choice, the tour guide told us Cucinelli chose these images himself to inspire the workers and remind them of the artisanal past that has inspired their current work.This is a photo of Brunello Cucinelli’s 70th birthday, taken on a restored ancient platform in Solomeo. He is surrounded by models wearing his designs. This picture is hung on the wall next to the main entrance to the factory.Spools of thread color-coordinated and displayed in front of the workstations in Cucinelli’s factory. Despite the beautiful and distracting interior design, the right half of the image shows rows and rows of women bent over their workstations in deep concentration.This is one of the public garden areas available to visitors of Cucinelli’s restored area of Solomeo. There is not one leaf out of place, discolored gravel, or piece of litter. When asked about his daily experiences in the town, a local student of Cucinelli said it was “perfect, but lonely.”The mailbox of Cucinelli’s family home in Solomeo.Boxes of hundreds of pieces of garments ready to be checked for flaws by workers in the factory.The doorbell for Cucinelli’s family home. Every home in the town is labeled with the names of the residents.This is a book display in the main Cucinelli clothing store in downtown Solomeo. There are no other stores besides Cucinelli’s within the town. The store space was perfectly maintained and staffed with 2 young women in each room all dressed in Cucinelli. These books were in the men’s clothing section next to a couch, assumedly for visitors to browse. However, the books that aren’t extremely old seem untouched. The contrast between the old, ornate book spines and the newer coffee-table books like “The Italian Book of Innovation” and “Picasso” is representative of the town’s extremely curated contrasting ancient/futuristic aesthetic.
