Brunello Cucinelli was born to a family of modest means on September 3, 1953, in Castel Rigone (Perugia).
In 1972, he earned a diploma as a land surveyor in Perugia.
He studied at the School of Engineering of Perugia University from 1972 to 1974.
At 25 years old, he realized that dyed cashmere could be a great innovation (until then, cashmere only came
in neutral, basic shades). He started his business, without financial means, in a small 40 sq. m. workshop.
After his second year of business, he hired his first employee.
His first export markets were Germany and the United States, which were considered financially solid countries.

In 1985 he bought the dilapidated 14th century castle of Solomeo, a small abandoned village on
the outskirts of Perugia where his fiancée Federica lived, as the future headquarters of his small cashmere business.
The restoration project began that same year. He moved his company headquarters to Solomeo in 1987.
Today the company has two locations: the first, in the ancient village that has returned to its ancient splendor
after years of meticulous, patient restoration, is composed of 8 homes, a castle, a church, and a villa.
The second, outside the small village, is a new industrial plant with a park and fruit orchard.

Brunello Cucinelli’s lifelong dream has been to work in a splendid location to make people’s work more
“humane” and “dignified” and to simultaneously “safeguard” the artistic and cultural heritage of the world.
The group opened boutiques in New York, Moscow, Paris, Capri, Porto Cervo, Saint-Tropez,
Buenos Aires, Palma de Mallorca, Osaka, Sylt, Hong Kong, Milano Marittima, and Cannes
and in many shop-in-shops in the world’s finest department stores.
The company produces Italian-made luxury goods: its flagship brand, Brunello Cucinelli Cashmere,
and the Rivamonti and Gunex lines.
The company has 409 in-house employees and approximately 900 outside contractors.
Its 2007 turnover amounts to 116 million euros.
It produces a total of 755,000 garments in Italy each year.
The company exports 60% of its exclusively Italian-made production.
Brunello Cucinelli works with over 1,000 luxury MULTIBRAND clients.
Its main export markets are the United States, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the Far East.