Both during Florence’s Pitti and Milan’s Fashion Week, Brunello Cucinelli maintains a much-appreciated habit of combining his collection presentations with masterful demonstrations of exquisite catering. Speaking at Pitti the morning after a belt-busting al fresco supper for several hundred, Cucinelli paid tribute to the cooks—who also feed his 1,000 strong workforce in Solomeo with regional Tuscan produce every day—then said of his hospitality: “it’s part of our culture. And I want us to always be imbued with this culture.”
He added that to his mind, the purest expressions of Italian cuisine tend to have only three fundamental ingredients: “like spaghetti cacio e pepe, or with tomatoes and basil.” Turning to consider this collection he suggested two seasonal elements: “a little bit Great Gatsby, a little bit Miami Vice.” These flavors added spring piquancy to a base that was 100 percent denominazione d’origine Cucinelli.
To most effectively seduce and satisfy, both fashion and food must stimulate the eye first. This collection triggered visual appetite through atypically summery hues characterized by team Cucinelli as papaya, grapefruit and ginger. A long skirted two-buttoned suit in a macro, papaya-tinted prince of wales check epitomized Cucinelli’s seasonal smoothie. Piqué shirts in grapefruit and ginger-toned cotton herringbone blazers provided further pops. Against these tangy tones were served wearable counterpoints in woody, tobacco shades that included a shawl-collar tuxedo jacket in suede lambskin and flowy silk-cashmere trench coats. Among the shoes were breezy huarache-style sandals. Capsules dedicated to tennis and golf expanded your conception of Cucinelli’s leisured protagonist.
The looks, then, worked finely on the eye. But where Cucinelli’s clothing tends to provide most satisfaction is via touch, ideally through wearing but here through the wanting. Wistfully handling his silk-shot denim or new cashmere-linen yarn knits was as delicious an experience as that epic dinner.
