#303 Brunello Cucinelli – Building a Fashion Empire, My Life Story

Read the episode notes & full interview HERE

*I made an error in the audio/video introduction of Brunello. He is not the CEO of Brunello Cucinelli but the Founder & Creative Director.

Today I sit down with fashion icon, Brunello Cucinelli. Brunello is the founder of Brunello Cucinelli and is known as “The King of Cashmere” but he didn’t start out on top. Brunello Cucinelli was born into a peasant family in Italy in 1953 and in 1978 he set up a small company and captivated the market with his idea of dying cashmere. Since when he was a boy, he witnessed his father working in an environment that degraded him as a person and became a catalyst for developing his dream to promote a concept of work that ensured respect for the human being’s moral and economic dignity.

In a world filled with company management trying to push their employees to the limit Brunello has a refreshing and proven method that is vastly different from what we’re used to. Brunello Cucinelli, has striven to create an enterprise that follows principles of what he calls “humanistic capitalism.” Human capitalism, according to Cucinelli, means pursuing growth and profitability in a “gracious way.” At the company, humanistic capitalism manifests itself in a very specific set of policies and behavioral norms. Workers are paid wages that exceed 20% of the market norms; the workday (even for senior executive) is limited to the hours of 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM; emails are not to be sent after hours or on weekends; lunch breaks are one and half hours long to allow workers to have lunch at home should they choose. There are also strong cultural norms emphasizing respect and dignity.

Brunello is the embodiment of a good soul who brings more beauty to this world and is constantly working to help humanity.

Episode Transcript

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