Martha Wearing Brunello Cucinelli Inspired A Revisit to the Fashion Humanist Himself

Martha Stewart Personal Instagram

Yes, Martha. We know a ‘10’ when we see one. AOC references Martha’s Super Bowl 2023 Skecher’s Commercial below, inspired by her friendship with Snoop Dogg. Their unlikely friendship is still thriving after 15 years, and Martha is regularly doing Simone Biles-worthy flips across my media screen this week.

In this moment, though, Martha Stewart Personal [IG] commandeered my attention, out and about in New York in her Bruno Cucinelli trousers and sequined-lapel blazer and brimmed hat.

The Queen of Thirst Trap Photos suited up to honor designer Gabriela Hearst at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s [FIT] Couture Council event at Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week.

Martha Stewart and Brunello Cucinelli [IG] are a divine, sartorial match, and it occurred to me that she surely was at the Italian designer’s recent 70th birthday soiree. The wonderful aspect of Instagram is that we can pop right over and check out the event.

Of course Martha was there, but her own snap of her evening dress, posing with actor Patrick Dempseyis even better. I owe Martha biggly for taking me back to Brunello Cucinelli.

MARTHA STEWART PERSONAL INSTAGRAM. Brunello Cucinelli’s 70th birthday.

Brunello Cucinelli: Creating Beauty As Purpose

Brunello Cucinelli is among the core group of brands — largely Italian — symbolizing the ‘quiet luxury’ fashion movement. The trend is associated not only with stealth wealth, but often with a more values-driven connection to artisans and the processes by which their clothes are manufacured.

We might add concepts like ‘responsible capitalism’ or ‘conscious capitalism’ to help us understand that in its best manifestation, ‘quiet luxury’ is not only about design attributes.

Angelina Jolie’s new Atlier Jolie will surely be organized along these principles.

If you are familiar with B-corporations, the conversion that Gabriela Hearst led at Chloe, these terms all share a common philosophy and set of values that clearly states that maximizing profits for stockholders is not the sole goal of the enterprise.

Recently, Brunello Cucinelli reported a 30.5% increase in sales for the first six months of 2023. Profits rose even higher to 31.9%.

Anne of Carversville has a style of fashion writing in which we sometimes take a fashion story — in this case the October 24, 2022 Sunday Times Style story ‘The Devil Wears Barbour’ — and we search deeply around our hunches or thoughts that percolate our visceral response to that story.

Because of this very technique, we were introduced to Brunello Cucinelli, a brand featured in the fashion story and one known to me as a fashion professional — but not ‘deeply’ known. The mistake — no, the loss — was mine.

Brunello Cucinelli’s landing page, had in October, 2022 and still does a year later in September 2023 a pre-entry message:

“Beauty is the symbol of the morally good”.

In an intensely personal approach to marketing, this high-value Italian luxury brand greets me with very similar messages a year later.

Brunello Cucinelli Landing Page October 2022

The speech “Our idea of Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability”, was delivered by Cucinelli to the World’s Great Leaders on the occasion of the G20 meeting in Rome, October 31, 2021.

Brunello Cucinelli began his G20 speech with another overriding theme from Kant:

“Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person, or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.”

This plunge into deep water comes this morning, because — in my own mind — the Kant perspective summarizies my own views about creating beauty as a form of purpose for creatives and also my own responsibility to humanity.

We’re not speaking about a ‘flawless’ beauty achieved with makeup products. We’re speaking of the beauty of actions, the way we as humans intersect with the world at large but also in our own communities. For his part, the Brunello Cucinelli family at large is devoted to the restoration and preservation of country life in the umbrian hamlet of Solomeo. About 10% of the local population works for the business in some capacity.

Brunello first visited Solomeo as a teenager in pursuit of his now-wife, Federica Benda, who he first met on the school bus.

Brunello Cucinelli Landing Page September 2023

A year ago, I left my writing about Brunello Cucinelli with a response message to his G20 speech that is desperately urgent today.

In America, we are in a mind-boggling battle with growing forces of authoritarianism. We are banning books in America because one complaint is made by someone who doesn’t even live in the school district. Truly great writers like Toni Morrison’s books are being banned in all high schools in Florida and Texas.

Florida governor Ron De Santis says he’s waging a war on “woke’ and if elected president, he will “slit the throats” of federal bureaucrats on his first day as president.

It’s so disturbing to compare the thoughtful nature of one man with the reckless, threatening nature of another. Yes, I’m a grown woman and the MAGA crowd terrifies me in America.

By contrast, Cucinelli inspires me and I’ve spent quite a lot of time in September investigating Kant, who I haven’t read in decades. If ever a brand deserves to be called a true “lifestyle brand”, it’s Brunello Cucinelli.

In today’s world to be greeted with thoughtful discussion on “humanistic capitalism” is not only rare, but deeply touching if one is a progressive like Anne.

My now year-old comments in response to Brunello Cucinelli’s inspiring thoughts and actions, expressed in his October 2021 G-20 speech were:

“What this says about slogging through global politics including authoritarianism, racism, misogyny and sustainability in this moment, I leave to your consideration. But I promise you that this topic is a big one and if you are a wise creative person, you will take it under advisement.”

Clearly, the last comment may be the most significant one I’ve made on Anne of Carversville. You will see when I share my investigation into Kant, that Bruno Cucinelli has become my tutor. In a different way from my dear Martha Stewart, but also a way that is highly comnpatible with her decades-long influence. ~ Anne

Image below is from the Brunello Cucinelli IG. He is pictured with his wife Federica, daughters Camilla and Carolina, and their sons-in-law Riccardo and Alessio.

The fashion philosopher wrote about the wine:

Last night, in this place so rich in history and charm as the palace of the Istituto dei Ciechi in the very noble Milan, it was really exciting to savour the first sip of the Castello di Solomeo wine that – at least for me – is very, very special, born from our land and from a work of great care and passion. In the vineyard that stands at the foot of the hamlet, we have allotted five hectares to vines that are cultivated according to the classic principles of viticulture, which I consider a true art; I like to think that our grapes can finally tell their own story of beauty. I believe there is nothing more beautiful than sharing this precious fruit, born out of a long process of care and custody, with lifelong friends and loved ones. Just as it was in ancient Greece, I like to imagine that this wine of ours can gladden the most pleasant symposia of people renewing this most human of rituals.